How?
by flying flower fantasy
Summary: Sequel to Where?-needs to be read first. The four are back home and are now squires. They still have a mystery to solve, and also have to learn how to handle there own lives. Can they overcome their problems to solve the mystery?
1. Home

**Disclaimer: The world they are in now belongs to Tamora Pierce, meaning the characters are hers.**

**Summary:** **With the problems of their own life, as well as problems coming towards them can they ever solve the mystery. **

**Link to first story: fanfiction . net /s/3623592/1/Where -just remove the spaces**

**A/N Okay, so my original plan was to update this before school started, didn't happen. My next plan, write during spare, didn't happen. My plan now... write while I'm up to back up the new computer, didn't happen. But the day I wrote this I was backing up the computer again (a day later) due to the error that occurred at three in the morning.**

Kel's POV

_We had just stepped through the ball of light. Light surrounded me, as it faded away_ a _recognizable room came into view._ _It was the war room, where knights met to discuss plans. I had never actual been here before but I had heard about it. The king was waiting there. After everyone else came, we were served food and had to explain our story, we left out everything dealing with Roald and I. He had wanted to tell his father for himself, and talk to him more in depth about it. The king had agreed to our finding the answer to our problem, since we had gone to the other world making it easier for us._

It had been two weeks and we were no closer to an answer. I sat in my room, watching the birds chase each other around, while Jump joyfully tried to swat them. After passing my exams Raoul took me on as his squire. Alanna took Neal, Merric ended up with a guy named Sir Acker, and Roald was with Sir Imrah of Leggan. The only problem was that as squires we can be called any where at any time. While the three guys moved around all the time, I only left when needed.

On a normal day Raoul would have me joust with him, followed by lessons in supplies and tactics. He had been asking Sir Myles for books that may be helpful. He also had his agents listening for anything similar in other countries.

I looked down at the book in my lap. It contained lists of those who had been reported missing in Corus. Alanna's husband George had managed to talk Proverst's Guard into giving us a list. I was marking down the names of those who appeared in those lists with those in the book from Mr. Kadet, creating a new list. I placed the quill I was using down on top of the book and fell back.

I had been working on this for the past while and it seems like the disappearances have been occurring more recently lately. Something was causing the movement of people. Merric suggested that someone was using others while practising magic and just kept finding more when the last one disappears. Of course there are many different things that could be causing this. The best thing to do right know is find out what they have in common.

I let out a sigh as someone began knocking at my door. I stood up and placed the books and list in my desk. Few people knew I was in here. Last I checked the guys had no plans for coming back soon. Anyways only Neal knew I change rooms and Raoul would use the between our rooms. I walked over to the door and opened it slightly. Once I saw who was standing outside I opened the door fully to let him in. As soon as the door was closed again I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. A hand to moved to my face bringing it up so I could look at him. He leaned forward and kissed me lightly. He pulled my back into a tight hug.

Under his breath he was whispering. I listened carefully to figure out what he was saying. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Kel."

I took a step back breaking all contact between us. "Sorry about what?"

"I couldn't talk him out of it. I'm officially engaged. I could do nothing."

I stood there in shock. I had let hope fill me in the past two weeks. I had nothing about the engagement since I got back. Of course a royal engagement like this cannot be easily broken. I sat down on my bed. "I love you Kel, I can continue to fight this, but right now the engagement will be announced and the princess from the Yamani Islands will arrive soon. I love you Kel, you are the love the most, remember that."

He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before leaving the room. I didn't move until Raoul came into the room seeing if I was planning on eating supper. He saw the look of disbelief still on my face. He grabbed the chair from my desk and sat down in front of me. "Is everything okay Kel?"

"Yes." I replied as I made my face emotionless.

I stood up and grabbed my practice glaive. Raoul looked at me still sitting. "Do you want to talk about anything?"

"No."

"Do you plan on eating supper?"

"Later."

I left Raoul sitting there. I went out to an empty practice room and start a practice dance. I began to pick up speed until the blade was a blur. I put all my emotion into moving, leaving me with nothing to think about. I only stopped when my muscles had gone beyond screaming in pain. I stopped, looking around the yard. I could see a shadow on the far side but I couldn't tell who it was.

I gave up and started to head back to my room. I wasn't really hungry, but I knew I would get a speech about eating correctly. I opened the door and was welcomed by the sparrows. Jump wasn't in sight, but he may have left with Raoul. I placed the glaive back in its place. I left the room, locking it. My plan was to eat in the King's Own mess, because there would be a greater chance of me seeing Roald if I ate the rest squires and pages. I was part hall when a someone grabbed my wrist. I was pulled over to the wall, where a pair of hands were placed on either side of me. I looked up from the floor and recognized my captor immediately. Even if I didn't recognized his face, the white blond hair would have been a dead give away. "Joren, what do you want?"

"To talk to you."

"Is this really necessary?"

"At first, but I will let you go if you promise to hear me out."

"I promise. Now move your hands."

He moved back. "I wanted to tell you Kel that I've changed. You don't have to worry about me bullying anymore."

I kept my face emotionless, but I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I could never believe that Joren has changed. He moved slightly closer. "And I know I'm not the only one."

With that he crossed the distance between us, pressing his lips to mine softly. I hit him. He pulled away. He had just said he changed then he kisses me, proving that I was right to not believe him. "What was that for? I thought you changed."

"I have, and like I said I'm not the only one."

He turned and walked away. I continued heading towards the King's Own mess for supper. I still had no appetite, but it would give me something to do. I grabbed some food from the server. I heard my name called out and say Dom waving at me. He was sitting only with Raoul, but then again the place was basically empty, since most finished eating before now. Both Dom and Raoul looked at me as I sat down. Raoul must have told Dom was something was up with me.

They said nothing while I ate, they just sat there watching me. As I finished eating Dom looked me in the eye. "Do you want to talk about anything Kel?"

"No, there is nothing to talk about. Although I am tired and believe that I shall go get some rest."

I stood up, bringing my dishes back to be cleaned before heading back to my room. I changed into my night clothes and crawled into my bed. I closed my eyes as I heard Raoul enter the other room. I kept them closed as he knocked on the door. I listened as he opened the door slightly. I stayed still even after he shut it, keeping my mind blank until I fell asleep.

**A/N I would like to thank my friend hopeless-romantic23 (check out her story) for helping name the story. Thanks to her there shall be five stories in all for this. Who?, What?, Where? (which has already been written), When?, Why?, and How? (this story). I figured it would fit in really well with the mystery aspect of the story. Plus, I now have the romance all figured out in my head. Thanks to all who voted, it may not go the way as hoped, but I agree with the majority of who Kel will end up with.**

**Please review and look for the next chapter. :)**


	2. Surprises

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.  
**

**A/N The results for the poll are out. They won't be up long, as soon as I update me other story the poll results for it will be going up.  
I knew I had started this chapter, and got mad when I couldn't find it anywhere, then I realized I had started writing it out during math class meaning it was on a sheet of paper and not the computer.  
**

Kel's POV  
I woke up later than usual, the sun had already risen by the time I got out of bed. Stretching I found my clothes and put out food for Jump and the sparrows. I finished getting dressed and headed for Raoul's room. The door opened, and no one was inside. I shut the door, and left for the King's Own mess hall. There was no sign of Raoul there, but I spotted Dom sitting with Lerant. I grabbed some food from one of the servers and sat down next to Dom, "Either of you know where Raoul is?"

Dom laughed, "He left a few minutes ago. He was called to a meeting with the King and Alanna about something. He told me to tell you that your free until he finds you."

I finished eating and stood up, "Well then I guess I'll go find Neal."

I started with Neal's room, hoping that he had slept in. I knocked on his door with no luck. I walked towards the next place he could be. I hesitated outside the room taking a deep breath before entering. Neal was inside, and sitting alone. I walked over to where he was and sat down across the table from him. He still had food on his plate, having left the vegetables untouched. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he picked his fork up and began eating them. I smiled and put my head down on the table. I wasn't tired, I knew that, but I felt like all my energy had been drained out of me. I heard Neal place his fork down. I looked up as he reached over and touched my forehead. I felt something enter me, meaning he was trying to use his magic to see if I was sick. I heard the door open and turned my head to see who it was. "You know Neal, if you like a girl, you should use a different way to show her."

Joren had came in through the door, and didn't understand the situation. I shook my head lightly, "I'm fine Neal. It's just with everything that's happened lately, I'm a little off."  
Joren smiled, "Everything that's happened, you mean your disappearance, or after you returned?"

I took another deep breath to help me calm and keep my face composed. "I would definitely have to say after Joren. Some of them were surprising."

He sat next to me. Neal glared at him. I felt Joren's hand rub against my leg, but said nothing, I didn't want Neal to start a fight over this. I have proven time and time again that I can beat Joren on my own. I moved my hand down and grabbed his. I moved it away from my leg, and went to pull it back to my side, but Joren held on. I dropped my hand down hoping that Neal didn't think to much about the movement. I smiled at Neal, "What's your plans for today?"

"Lady Alanna has me working in the infirmary with my father while she is busy. After I'm done eating I am to report to the infirmary."

"Always studying medicine, right?"

"From a case of sniffles, to an epidemic if she could."

I laughed, Neal always had a way to over exaggerate things. He stood up and took his plate to the counter, waving just before he went through the door. I waved back before turning towards Joren, "Let go of my hand."

"I'd rather not. Actually, I want you to come with me."

"No."

"I didn't ask now did I?"

"Doesn't mean I'll go."

"Oh the horror, if news gets out that Kel can't stand to be away from the any man for any length of time gets out, you may not be able to complete your training."

"I thought you said you changed."

"I have, but that doesn't mean I won't get what I want."

He tightened his hold on my hand and started to walk away from the table. I followed, only because it would hurt after a while. Joren lead me straight to his room. I followed him inside, ready for a fight. He sat down on the bed and left me standing there alone. He motioned to the chair at his desk. "Please sit."

I carefully walked over to the chair and sat down, not knowing what to expect. "Kel, I should, no, I want, no, I need to apologize for the way I've been treating you since you came here. I don't know why, but I felt like I changed after you arrived."

He looked at me, and I just looked right back. His head titled to the side, as if he was studying me. "I used to only think of ladies in dresses, ready to dance, use their manners, and listen. You came and dressed like every guy, your dance was a deadly one, weapon and all, your manners, while good to those above you, you never hid your dislike of certain people, and never listened. Not once. The first time I tried to tell you to do something, you opposed, instead you stood your ground, leading to the fight. The worst part is, after that fight I never knew if I fought you because it felt good, or because it brought me closer to you. I'm amazed that you don't have the gift Kel, because you've done something to me and I will figure out what it is."

I didn't say a word, I just sat there staring at Joren. It had to be another one of his acts, trying to make me feel relieved in some way. Unless he was only telling me this to relieve his own guilt, or get something from me. "Kel, I have no clue what it is, but I swear I will find out."

With that he closed the distance between us and pressed his lips against mine. I didn't feel the same as when Roald kissed me, but it was something. I had missed the closeness of someone being near by. It may have only been a day since Roald had told me the news, but it felt like years had passed by between now and then. I felt Joren tried to deepen the kiss, but I pushed him away. "No, not yet. I can't."

He pulled away and looked directly into my eyes. "Your not over him yet are you?"

"Not yet."

"Well then I'll help you forget."

He leaned forward to kiss me again, but I stopped him. "Not right now. Although if you wouldn't mind?"

"If I wouldn't mind what?"

"Sword practice, spar with me. Help me at least get him off my mind."

"That I can do."

He grabbed his sword and took my hand before leaving his room. He led me to my old room in the squires dorm. I shook my head slightly and pulled him along to the room next to Raoul's. I grabbed my own sword and let him lead me down to the practice room. We spent the next hour trying to get the other to back down. Neither of us even thought about stopping until I could hear my name being called. Raoul was walking towards us. "Kel, you are to come with me."

I put my sword back in its scabbard and began to follow Raoul back inside. "Kel," Joren shouted, "Are you going to come eat with the rest of the squires tonight?"

"I guess I can." I said smiling, "As long as I have someone to help keep my mind clear."

"Well then, I'll find you so that you don't have to worry."

Raoul looked between the two of us, and lifted an eyebrow questioningly. "He is helping me. For now we are friends, we may become enemies again, but only the gods know what will happen. So for know he is a friend. What are we doing?"

"The king wishes to speak to you about a few different events that have happened. You must speak truthfully."

"Yes sir."

**A/N I know you all want to kill me over the whole Joren thing, but I wouldn****'t worry to much about it. All you have to review, and I shall type the next chapter, and you can be informed as to what is happening with the King, Raoul, and Kel. **


	3. Working At It

**Disclaimer- the characters belong to Tamora Pierce.**

**A/N Cringes in anticipation for whatever will be thrown at me I know it's been a while since my last update, thanks to AJ-lover for pointing out the fact, I hadn't thought it had been over a month since the last update. I've been doing a lot of writing for scholarships so, yeah, hopefully my updates will be back to normal soon.**

Kel's POV

I walked along side Sir Raoul as we headed for where the King was. I was worrying about what the King wanted. It was most likely about the relationship, by now, Roald probably told him. I looked up to see Raoul looking at me, "Don't worry, it's probably nothing. Maybe a few more questions about the school and whatnot."

"It's the questions about the whatnot that's worrying me."

We stopped outside the same room we had returned to when we came home to Tortall. Raoul knocked on the door, and then waited for it to be opened. Alanna opened the door and let us in. King Jon was sitting at the table, his back towards me, meaning I couldn't read his expression. Without turning around his motioned for us sit across from him.

I was nervous; I took a breath and fixed the expression on my face. I took my spot. King Jon looked at me; his face was practiced, showing no emotion. Nothing was said; we sat around the table looking no one else in the eyes. Finally King Jon began to speak, "I have heard about the relationship between you and my son while you were gone."

He knew, I knew that he knew, but hearing it like this made everything harder. Especially since I had learnt about the engagement yesterday, and only received a promise to help me get over this today. Yet I couldn't lie, could act ignorant to what he was saying, I had to answer, even though I would rather not. "Yes it is true."

"Are the two of you still in a relationship?"

"No sir."

"Do you plan on telling anyone about your relationship?"

"No sir."

"You'll not disrupt the engagement?"

"No sir."

"Okay, remember what you let slip may hurt Roald. Raoul, I need you to stay a while longer, give Kel any orders you have."

"Enjoy your day, although I do suggest you work on the list slightly. Joren is probably worrying about you right now."

"You must have some good friends Kel." said the King.

"Yes my newest friend is quite nice right now."

I bowed and left the room. I hurried back to the practice room where I had left Joren. He wasn't there. From there I headed to his room. Knocking twice with no answer, I decided to check and see if he was in the mess hall. The room itself was empty. I gave up on the search and headed towards my own room to check that Jump and the Sparrows had enough food for know, and work on the list a little.

When I reached the hallway that led to my room I saw something on the floor against my door. I hurried down the hallway to find out what it was. It turned out not to be something but someone. Joren was sitting outside my door, and had apparently fallen asleep. I leant over and shook his shoulder slightly. "What do you want?" he muttered.

"To get into my room. Come on let's get you something better to sit on."

I unlocked my door and walked in, Joren following me. Jump growled slightly as Joren came into the room. "It's okay Jump, he's a friend."

Jump backed off, but kept his eyes on Joren. I grabbed the list out of my desk and sat on my bed. I opened to the page I had marked and began writing. I kept my eyes on my page, not looking around. I could feel Joren's eyes on me, and I knew that he wasn't about to stop looking anytime soon. "What did they want?"

"To talk."

"You don't want to talk about it do you?"

"Do I really seem that bad? Enough that they need me to promise not to say anything, not to do anything?"

I felt the mattress shift underneath me, just before an arm wrapped around me. "Your fine the way you are. It's not your fault that they don't trust you. Although it may have something to do with you being strong, and opposing, kind of like Alanna. They don't know how to deal with you. You're only the second female knight they've had to deal with this century."

"True, but still."

I continued on the list, names we're appearing on both lists more frequently. "What are you working on?"

"A mystery. The people in this book have disappeared from here, and landed in the same place I did."

"So that place, what was it like?"

"No magic, but I gained some, it was different, suddenly having magic. Of course coming back here caused me to loss it. We actually landed in a place called, School. It's a learning facility, much like the university, but everyone there is about our age, and none had reached a university level, they had trouble believing the fact that Neal had gone through university."

"How about knights, were there any?"

"None, other than Raoul and Alanna when they came, but there were teachers passing on knowledge, and some of their classes were the same, but with really weird names of the greatest discovery. They have Note's catapult theory, but they call it the Pythagorean Theorem."

"Anything else?"

"The clothes they wore were quite different. Go out into the hall for half a second and I'll show you what they looked like. We were allowed to keep the few items of clothing we were to wear to class."

With Joren outside, I pulled out the uniform. I never thought I would do this, but I pulled it on, only this time I didn't touch the skirt or put on any face paints. "Okay come in quickly, I don't really want anyone to see this."

"You don't have to show me."

"You don't get the full effect unless it's on. Even the queen asked me to show her how to wear the outfit."

Joren quickly came into the room and looked at me. I gave a slight spin carefully holding the skirt down. "So girls actually walked around in skirts that short?"

"Shorter, most rolled them up."

"Did the guys have to wear the same outfit?"

Joren looked ready to laugh. "No they didn't. The guys wore outfits quite similar to our uniforms."

"That's boring."

I laughed. Joren sat down on my bed. "I was planning on pulling my own clothes on again."

"You said those were your clothes. Anyways it's only the two of us in here. Jut wears it for a bit."

I grabbed my books of the bed and sat at the dresser. "Fine but please don't bug me. I have work to do."

"Can I help?"

"Not really there's only one copy of each book."

I heard a loud thud. I turned around to see what had happened. Joren was sitting on the floor motioning for Jump to come towards him. I turned back to my work. It seemed that Joren really had changed, and maybe it was for the better.

I didn't stop working until I heard the bell and realized it was suppertime. Joren had been quiet the entire time I was working. It didn't surprise me to see Joren leaning against my bed, fast asleep. I walked over to him and shook his shoulder. "You sleep way too much. It's suppertime. Now get out so I can change."

"Promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Wear a dress tonight to supper. You haven't done that in a while and it will surprise everyone."

"Get out of my room then."

Joren jumped up and left. I grabbed one of my dresses and changed out of my uniform and into it. Joren was right it had been a while since I last pulled on a dress even though my mom had given me a new one when I got back. I was lucky it fit properly. I used some of my face paints. I left the room and locked my door. Joren was sitting down across from my door, with a look of awe on his face. "I should go change shouldn't I?"

"No, this is perfect. Let's go."

Joren to my hand and held it as we walked through the halls and into the mess hall. I spotted Roald sitting at one of the tables. I squeezed Joren's hand. He pulled me a little closer. We sat down at a table away from Roald, where Neal and the others were sitting. I saw a couple different expressions cross the guys' faces as I sat down. "Its fine guys, he's with me."

"Wait you two are?" started Merric.

"No, were only friends, but still you must be nice."

I joined the guys in eating supper, trying hard to act normal. It wasn't hard to do. The random emptiness of the guys' conversation had me laughing. Again as always Neal put his fork down without touching his vegetables. "Neal for as much as you hoped, Kel hasn't changed that much. She looks ready to literally smack some sense into you." said Merric.

Neal looked up at my face and picked up his forks and quickly ate his vegetables. "Better Kel?"

I smiled and nodded my head. Roald had crossed my line of vision again. I felt someone take my hand and squeeze it. "Remember Kel, your strong, you'll make it through this. If you want I can take you back to your room."

"I'll go myself. You stay and have fun."

I stood up and left the room. Never had I expected anyone to follow me. Especially not the one whom, I recognized from the yelling of "Hey Kel."

**A/N There you go, a quick update, Kel working at getting over her sorrow. Hoped you enjoyed it.**


	4. A Promise

**Disclaimer: The characters belong to Tamora Pierce**

**A/N~ I know it's been forever since the last update, but I swear this has been the first available chance I've had, and that I will try and update more often seeing after this semester I have no more essays for the rest of my high school year.**

Kel's POV

I turned around to find myself looking into Roald's familiar eyes. At that moment I was torn between two feelings. Part of me wanted to walk up to Roald and pull him to any place that we could be alone, yet at the same time I wanted to just walk off and not say anything to him, keep myself from getting hurt even more than I already was. "Kel," he said, "Please tell me you're alright."

"I'm alright. Why do you think something is wrong?"

"I noticed you and Joren together at supper, it surprised me I guess last I knew the two of you hated each other."

"People change, Joren changed while he was away from the castle, and I changed from my time away from the castle, although there are some things I wish I could forget."

"I'm really--"

"There you are Kel, I was looking for you."

I took a deep breath before looking to see who was talking to me. Dom was coming down the hallway, not running but walking too quickly for this to be a normal visit. "Raoul sent me looking for you. He's decided that we should all head out into the woods and go over some page training exercises, give us a chance to do some proper training before winter comes."

"When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible, although most likely not until after Raoul wakes up tomorrow, you know by now how much he likes his rest."

"Any good man who does as much as my lord would take advantage of sleeping within the palace walls. I'm Prince Roald but it seems I must take my leave to pack."

I headed to my own room in silence, thankful that Dom had interrupted our conversation. The idea of a few days away from the castle seemed great since out in the forest I had little chance of running into Roald. Instead of entering my own room upon arrival at my door, I decided to see if Raoul was in his.

I knocked on the door next to mine and waited for a response. Inside the room sat Raoul and Lord Wyldon. Both men stopped talking as I entered. "Ah, Kel, it's good your here. I was just discussing with Lord Wyldon about the training we are about to do in the forest, and he is hoping to take advantage of it and have the pages come along, as well as an squire who will be able to."

"So it won't only be the King's Own men, but pages and squires as well."

I hadn't said the line as a question, but rather repeated it to myself. It was an idea I had to get used to now, breaking my hope of avoiding one certain squire. "Yes," Lord Wyldon said, "any available squire, so for it's only you, Joren, and Merric. Both Lady Alanna and Sir Imrah of Leggan are heading north with their squires."

Although it didn't show I was ready to laugh with relief when I heard the news. It would have been great if I could have spent a couple days more with Neal, and Lady Alanna, but the fact that Sir Imrah of Leggan and Roald would be gone by then gave me relief. It would have been impossible to avoid Roald if we were in the same camp. "I didn't think you would take the pages out so early in the year sir."

"Well I must take advantage of this opportunity. Plus with the men within the King's Own and you three squires, everything will be fine. As you must have heard by now, the plan was to go over basic page training anyways, which means the older pages can review, while the new ones learn."

"I see your reasoning my lord. May I ask which day we're leaving on?"

"We leave tomorrow. Pack the same items you would have in your page years, but ensure that you bring your sword. We aren't riding any horses, but you must choose one to be left with the supplies. There is always the chance that we will have to leave in the middle to do our duty."

"Yes sir. If you have nothing for me to do I shall go pack."

"There is nothing for you to do at this moment, you may go pack."

I bowed and left the room, entering my own. I let go a sigh of relief as soon as the door between the rooms was shut. I smiled and fell back on my bed.

Merric and Joren I could deal with, Roald I couldn't. That and with Neal gone there would most likely be less tension. Although conversation at the table seemed normal, it felt as if the guys were holding back and not talking as their true selves, and Joren being there may have caused that. Getting off my bed I began to pack a few changes of clothes.

I had finished packing my clothes when someone knocked at my door. I opened it to see Neal standing outside. "Some of us are going into Corus and I was wondering if you wanted to join us."

"Sure, I was thinking I should go see Lalassa before things get busy."

"I bet the guys would like to see her too. We normally avoid the idea of walking into the dress shop since we are guys."

"That's too sad; you guys were the first males she was comfortable around after coming to the castle."

"Well come on. We're walking since some of us ride off on horses tomorrow and will be on them for a long while."

"Some of us? As far as I know only you and Roald leave tomorrow."

"And Merric's the last part of the group going down to Corus."

"Roald's coming?"

"Yes."

"Maybe it will be better if I just stay back then."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, it's just that I don't know how earlier we're leaving tomorrow and I would want to be tired when we leave, it wouldn't be a good example for the pages."

I attempted to shut the door but Neal stopped it. "You were fine about coming until you found out who was coming. What would you agree to come if we asked Joren to join us?"

"No."

"Then why won't you come?"

I knew I hadn't told Neal about what had happened with Roald and me. I hadn't told anyone, Joren had realized it on his own which led me to assume Neal would have figured it out. "Roald and I aren't the best of friends right now. It's hard for me to talk to him."

"Kel, there's no one in our way tonight, you can talk freely seeing as Merric and I know everything."

Either Neal had no clue to what I was trying to say, or didn't want to say it outright and was hoping he wouldn't have to. "Neal, it's not that we can't talk in that way. It's his engagement, its official; he can do nothing about it, it's best for us to stay apart."

"Don't let that ruin your friendship, if things get awkward I'll come back to the castle with you, but it seems like your avoiding him and that won't help."

"And how do you know so much?"

"Years of wisdom and heart break."

"Fine, I'll come but if I want to leave you cannot try and stop me."

I locked my door and followed Neal down to the gates where the other two were waiting. As we approached them Merric yelled out, "Race you to Corus."

Both guys ahead of us took off running in the direction of the city. "No fair." yelled Neal as we chased after them.

"Completely." I heard Roald shout.

"How's that?"

"You're known for your running Neal, it wouldn't be a fair race if you started next to us."

"That's called cheating."

"Actually it's called thinking to our advantage."

From the way they were talking it made me wonder if they knew I was the other person with Neal. I felt like I should be laughing but couldn't. It felt different running in a dress, I hadn't done so in years. I held onto the skirt to keep it from revealing anything. As we reached the outer part of Corus the guys slowed down, taking the chance to catch their breath. Merric was breathing the hardest. "Next time Merric don't make a challenge if you're not going to be able to survive it yourself."

"I'm fine Neal, just a little out of practice."

I felt Roald eyes on me, "You did pretty well for wearing a dress Kel."

"Of course, women need to be able to run in dresses, how else would they get away from men?"

"We're going to visit Lalassa first, is there anything else you want to do other than wander around?"

Merric and Roald mumbled some answers, but I wasn't paying attention.

"May I suggest not doing anything that will embarrass you in front of the pages."

"But Kel if he does either, or maybe both you and Dom will tell me, and I would love to be able to laugh, even if it's at a fellow squire's expense."

I promised to tell if Merric had any accidents while Neal was away, and ensured that if I missed something I would find someone who witnessed it. We walked through Corus until we came upon Lalassa's shop. "It's closed."

"She's probably not here then. I'm going to head back up to the castle then; I really just wanted to talk with Lalassa."

"I'll come back with you Kel."

Merric mentioned seeing who was in one of the taverns and asked Neal to join. Neal looked at me, "Go, Roald will ensure nothing will happen to me."

Roald's POV

Neal must have known about the situation between Kel and I, otherwise he wouldn't have given only the two of us walking back to the castle another thought. I hoped Kel would agree to come back with me since it would be the perfect time to talk.

We waved to Merric and Neal before heading up the hill to the castle. Once we were beyond the city I began to speak. "Kel, will you listen to me this time?"

"What other choice do I have? No one is going to show up and interrupt you this time."

"Just listen. I really wish I could change the situation, but I can't, not right now anyways. I'm still trying though, finding a way I can be with you."

I had thought about talking to the woman I was engaged to. Convince her that we should call of the marriage. Most likely there was someone in her life she didn't want to give up either. If I could persuade her it would be easier to call off the wedding.

We were nearing the castle and would soon be visible by the sentry. I sped up until I was walking next to Kel. I grabbed her arm and turned her so that she was facing me. I pulled her into a hug. "Kel, I hope next time we talk we can be on better terms. I know I hurt you but it doesn't mean that I don't love. I do Kel, and if I could I would tell all of Tortall, but Kel you know what that will do."

"I know, it's just, hard."

I smiled into her hair and moved back a little. "I love you Kel, and do whatever I can to keep us together."

With that I pulled her towards me and kissed her. I pulled back knowing I wouldn't be able to break this kiss if I continued it any longer. "Promise me one thing Kel. Stay happy, even if I'm not able to be with you ever again I will feel better knowing you're happy. Even if it means you being with Joren."

"I promise. I'll stay happy."

I took Kel's hand and held it until we entered the castle. There we parted ways both knowing the future may change for us.

**A/N~ That's the update :) If I don't have one up before my exams start one should be up shortly after. Please review, it's the reviews that remind me I need to update!!! If you see any mistakes please point them out, I'm hoping to go through everything when I have time and fix it.**


	5. Camp Day 1

**Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns the characters and books.**

**A/N~ Exams are over, I can write again. Plus no more papers for me to write for the rest of the year. Although at this point math will be the death of me.**

**Chapter 5**

**Kel's POV**

After getting back to the castle with Roald the night before, I crashed. Everything he had said was running through my head. The hug, the kiss, and the promise, all kept me awake. At some point I feel asleep, but not early. I woke up later than usual due to this. I had no time to do my normal morning exercises but instead got dressed and ran down to the mess hall. The pages had already begun eating. I grabbed some food and sat down with Merric. "Neal and Lady Alanna left earlier this morning, and Roald stopped by to see if you were here, since you weren't he asked me to tell you he says bye, and remember. I asked him remember what but he wouldn't tell me."

"It's okay, I understand."

I quickly ate what was on my own plate. "I'll see you when we leave."

Merric nodded and I left the room. I started heading back to my room when I realized there was a chance Roald would head there as well. I changed directions and headed for the Own's stable. In Peachblossom's stall I paused. I looked him in the eye, "Should I trust you or not?"

"Kel, I though you would be here. I came to say good-bye."

I turned around to see Roald standing in the doorway. "Lucky for me I decided to check here last, I was going to come here before heading to your room, but decided to go to your room first."

"I didn't think you would find me. Although Merric passed on the message for you. So, I'll see you when you get back."

"Good luck on your training."

He left and I faced Peachblossom once again. "Can I trust you to behave if I leave you with the rest of the horses traveling behind us?"

Peachblossom looked me in the eyes as if he couldn't believe what I was saying. His head dipped down in a nodding motion before he starting for treats. "I didn't bring any with me. I make sure to bring you something before we leave though."

I headed straight for my room to see if Raoul was up yet. I walked into the room between ours first. Raoul was sitting at his desk writing something. "We meet by the stables in fifteen minutes; bring your pack with you. Pack your armour and leave it in here, someone will grab it later. We will head to the training stables and meet up with the pages there. Any questions?"

"No sir."

"Good, now which horse are you bringing?"

"Peachblossom sir."

"You promise he won't cause any trouble."

"He won't I've already talked with him."

"Fifteen minutes."

I knew I had just been dismissed, so I walked through the door and into my room. I packed my armour and brought it over to Raoul's room before grabbing my pack, in which I placed the lists so that I could continue working while away. I headed for the stables bumping into Joren on the way. "Aren't we meeting in the pages stable?"

"I'm to head to the King's Own's stable first. I'll see you at the other one soon though."

Joren nodded at me then turned away. Inside the stable I went to Peachblossom's stall and held out the apple I had promised him. Shortly after I arrived the other men started showing up placing their saddles on the stall's door. I followed their lead and placed the saddle for Peachblossom on the door. I nodded at Dom as he passed me on the way to his horse's stall. I looked over at Peachblossom one more time before heading to the stable doors. There Raoul waited for all the men to gather. Once everyone was ready Raoul gave us a short speech. "We're nearly ready to head out. Just a few things I wanted to say first. No telling stories to purposely scare the pages. No telling stories about me. If you're asked for help, help to the best of your ability. Not only do the pages do what is assigned, you do as well. Any questions?"

"None."

"Normally I don't mind if you are relaxed about positions and names, but while we are with the pages set a good example for them to follow."

"Yes, sir."

"We head to the pages' stable and from there we head out. We are going to the clearing; there we shall set up camp. You will not be all together, but spread out with the pages. Let's go."

We headed to the page's stable from there and were broken into groups. Each group consisted of the Own's members and younger pages. Joren, Merric and I were placed with a group of fourth year pages. Wyldon gave me a look as he called out the groups. I didn't know whether he didn't trust the friendship between Joren and I, or the fact that I was going to be using the same tent as the others since on all our page trips I stayed with the Shang Cat. I smiled at Wyldon as my group past him on the way out. Raoul was leading us with his group, while Wyldon's covered the rear. Being Raoul's squire my group followed right behind him. Both Joren and Merric's knight masters were staying behind to rest, giving their squires a little freedom.

We had barely entered the forest when one of the pages nearly fell. Joren and I both reached out to catch. Joren who was slightly closer caught him and helped the page steady himself. "Careful with your footing, you don't want to injure yourself tripping over something like a root in front of a lady would you?"

"We were told to act as if she was no different from any other male."

"Well then here's another thing you can think about. Stories from this trip will go around. Even if we are the only people who saw you trip it doesn't mean others won't hear, and news can travel quickly from pages to nobles."

"I shall be more careful."

"Everything alright Kel?"

I looked back. Dom's group was coming closer as Merric and the rest of our group walked further away. "Everything's fine, we just had to teach our first lesson, make sure the page remembers everything."

"Well then if the lesson's been taught you may want to catch up."

"We were about to do that."

"I'll see you at camp then."

Joren looked at the page and I, "We better run, watch your footing page."

"My name is not page it's Theo."

"When then Theo, watching your footing, cause it'll hurt more if you fall while running."

We jogged until we caught up with Merric and the rest of the group. "What took you guys so long to catch up?"

"Kel had to talk with one of the Own's members."

"We only said about two sentences each Joren, it's not like we had a full conversation."

"It seemed like it."

"Well the two of you can stop arguing. Sir Raoul had just sent one of his men back to tell us that we will be stopping for the night soon."

"This early?"

"We've been walking for nearly four hours Kel, even if you have not noticed it, many of the new pages aren't so used to this yet, plus we left late because Sir Raoul waited until the afternoon to leave."

I looked up at the sky that was barely visible through the treetops. The sky was darkening, which meant it was almost night. It was hard to tell in the forest at times because the trees were so thick. "We should decide the sleeping arrangement before we reach camp then, that way we can break up into the groups putting up our tents."

Joren looked over at our group. "Alright guys, we're breaking ourselves up into tents now. Normally you won't be asked this, but do any of you have a problem with sharing a tent with Kel?"

I watched as three of the pages put their hands up. "You three will share one tent then," he softened his voice and looked at Merric¸ "Can you share a tent with those guys? Teach them about Kel since they will have to learn to work with her."

"Why can't you do that?"

"I don't know her as well, that's all."

"Fine, who will be in the other tent with you and Kel?"

"Theo."

Joren looked back at the pages, "Merric shall be in your tent. Theo, you will be with Kel and me."

I smiled; the tent I was in would have plenty of room. Most the groups had eight people in them, but since Wyldon wanted to put us in a place where we had to act as leaders, he gave us the smallest amount of people. As we reached the clearing, we went to Raoul for instructions as to where we were to pitch our tents. Ours were to be next to his, since I was his squire. From the look on his face I knew it was also because I was sharing a tent with boys and this would help with any rumours that might arise.

Together the three of us pitched our tent as the other groups began to arrive. By the time we had finished setting up camp for the night the food was ready. For the pages supper was a quiet affair, while the members of the Own and Wyldon talked. Wyldon gave us an overview as to what we would be doing the following day. If everything went as planned, we would be at the clearing we planned on camping in by noon the following day. After that Wyldon wanted us to map out a certain area. We would each be told our point the following morning. I felt Wyldon's gaze on me as he said this. I knew he was probably going to send me somewhere that had heights involved.

I headed back to the tent after instructions were given. I had kept my guard down, not expecting anyone to grab me and pull me into the bushes near the tents.

**A/N~ Another update complete. Wonder if you can guess who pulled her into the bushes. :)**


	6. Camp Night 1

**Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns the characters and the books.**

**A/N~ I had started to write this chapter then my laptop was hit with a bunch of viruses, so I couldn't use it, and still don't have it back. With it being summer I hope to have enough time to continue writing while working.**

**Chapter Six  
Kel's POV**

I kicked my attacker's hand and rolled to my feet. Closing my hands into fists, I placed my feet in a fighting stance, shoulder width apart. I relaxed slightly seeing the pages face. I was not enough of an idiot to let them see me relax, only close friends of mine, knew when I let my muscles relax while still in a stance, and even then they had trouble seeing it.

"What do you three want?"

"To teach you a lesson."

"It isn't that easy you should know. I let you go without injury if you all leave now."

"Don't place us off as easy as the guys from your year, they probably went easy on you cause you're a girl, and most likely younger. We don't care about that."

"None of that is true, I won because I was stronger, and they fought me like they fought my friends."

"Well then they assumed your friends were weak like you. Everyone knows that if the weak can't find someone stronger than band together and hide."

"Well then you have some of the facts confused, if I recall correctly my friends and I fought when it was required of us, both in the yard and in the halls. We wouldn't let anyone get away with calling us anything; none of my friends are really weak you should know."

"If your friends didn't look weak it was because others were going easy on them." Said Oliver, the one who appeared to be the leader.

"Of course if they used you to defend them they had to be weak. Really how weak do you have to be when you find yourself being protected by a girl?" Said Dylan.

"You must be weaker than the girl of course. It will be such a shame for almost an entire year of squires fail." Said Caleb.

I hit each one of the boys on the back of the hard. Not hard enough to cause any damage, but enough that they will have a hard time doing anything. "I wouldn't suggest complaining to anyone, and you may want to be careful about whom you insult me around, or you may find yourself in more trouble or pain than you plan on."

"Just be happy you'll be sleeping with boys tonight, although the pretty boy and Theo won't be much protection if we decided to actual attempt to hurt you. Just consider this our warning." Said Oliver, before he turned away and led the other two out of the bush.

I headed for my own tent with hopes of getting some work done. The light was disappearing quickly, so I sat outside the tent against a tree. Pulling out the book, I continued the list I had been working on for the past couple days.

I was letting the last sheet dry before putting all my work away when Joren showed up at the tent. He sat down next to me, leaning against the tree. "Just one question for you. You didn't happen to have anything to do with the three pages from our group rejoining the fire, rubbing the back of their heads, would you?"

"What makes you assume that I did?"

"They returned shortly after you disappeared, and if I recall I heard one saying something about knowing place. I assumed they were talking about you not knowing your place as a woman. Although I regret it now, I remember muttering such things after our little, falls shall I say, during our page years."

"You know it is improper to talk about such things, especially when it may hurt ones pride, even if they have a little too much."

"I'll take that answer as the truth, even if it is hidden. Getting any further one the mystery?"

"I'm not sure I should really be telling you any of this."

"Why stop. You have already told me some, plus I could be some help. Even if I'm seen as only a pretty boy, I have my moments of brilliance."

"There is nothing much to tell anyways, all I know is that more people are appearing in both."

"Better connections in the other world?"

"That for now is a mystery, although if it wasn't for chance, we wouldn't have ever met the guy who helped us acquire this book."

Footsteps nearby made me quickly hide the loose sheets in the book, and placing it next to me so that I would block it from whoever was. Theo appeared from the other side of the tent. "Kel, I was just wondering, but, umm, how are we arranging the tent?"

"I'll sleep to one side with our packs between me and the two of you."

"Okay, I just wanted to know, Lord Wyldon told us we have to be up early tomorrow, and I'm not the earliest of risers, but I'll see you in the morning, Kel, Joren."

I gave a small wave to Theo as he climbed into the tent. As soon as he was inside, I brought the book back to my lap, and finished organizing in the papers. Placing them inside the book, I crawled into the tent and placed it in my pack. I was careful not to disturb Theo, who from the looks of it was already asleep, as I went back outside. It was night, and the light moon wasn't at its brightest, but I could hear the men of the Own still talking.

Joren was leaning against the tree with his eyes closed when I got back out of the tent. "If you're that tired you should go to sleep in the tent where you won't catch a cold."

"I'm not tired, just waiting for you."

"Well I'm heading to the fire for a while."

"The men of the Own might have some interesting stories. I'll join you."

"I hate to tell you this, but Raoul has warned the men about setting a good example for the pages. If they are smart they know he meant more than just the titles and positions as he mentioned. So many of the good stories may not be told tonight."

"Well then, any parts left out, or stories missing, you must tell me at a later date."

By that point we had reached the fire. Merric was there, but the three from his tent were not. I was glad for this fact since even though they may not act or say anything in front of the others, glares could be just as bad sometimes. I sat next to Dom who had made room for me. Joren sat next to Merric who had told one of the pages to move over. Dom put his arm around me as soon as I sat down. "So what do you think of you first day out with the pages?"

"Slow moving, although I don't blame the pages, some of it comes from the one who had to sleep in today."

"Tsk, tsk Kel. You'll get us all in trouble if you keep speaking like that, in case you can't recall."

"I remember, although it is the truth."

"Many of our stories are the truth as well, but we must with hold them to keep from receiving the worst duties."

"I shall practice keeping my mouth shut then. Although if I recall I never really had trouble with it before I joined men who can only speak without thinking."

"Kel, you are too cruel, we think before we speak, we just disregard our thoughts."

I lifted Dom's arm off my shoulder. "It is hard to disregard thoughts that don't exist."

"Must I repeat the fact that you are being cruel yet again Kel? I have plenty of thoughts, some I keep to myself, although I see no point in hiding thoughts that others may find funny. This training though makes us remember to watch our thoughts, it is quite depressing having so many people who have not heard our stories and having to keep everything in our minds to ourselves."

"A speech from Dom, something I have not yet heard, although I should have been expecting it, most people cut you off quickly as if they don't want to hear all you have to say."

I heard a laugh from across the fire. Searching for the source I found Joren. "I'm sorry Kel, but I am surprised at how well you've managed to fit in with the Own. When I first heard you were Lord Raoul's squire I was wondering how you would manage to hold up against a group of young men, but it seems you are quite a bit alike."

"Are you saying that I'm like a single, young man, fighting for the crown without being a knight?"

"Not in that way Kel. Through your mind, it is perfect for a battle of wit. Who would have thought that your calmness would be good for something like this?"

"A calm mind allows you to think of many things."

"What, so for us of the Own, who think of so little have no calmness?"

"You can be calm, when you must be, the rest of the time you all joke around. It is amazing how you manage to get done what you all do."

"Kel, please don't insult my men further, they always manage to turn it to me, and that is something they will hold over me for months. Just like the last time…"

I raised my eyebrows as I saw that he was about to give an example. "Right no stories, not around the pages. I really shouldn't make rules even I will have trouble obeying. Alright men time to turn in. It will do us no good if we are tired and trying to keep up with the pages."

I followed Joren back to the tent, walking with Raoul. I was about to head into my tent when I felt a hand on my arm. "Kel may I ask how you've arranged the tent?"

"The guys are sleeping on one side of the packs and I on the other. If anyone wants to check the story in the morning they may. As for me I'm tired and plan on being asleep soon, especially if someone is going to be waking me to check."

"Night Kel."

"Good night Sir."

I carefully made my way over to my side of the tent before falling asleep.

**A/N~ The chapter is done and the story is finally updated. It has been forever; I will try and get another one up as soon as possible.**


	7. Camp Day 2

**Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns the characters and the books.**

**A/N~ I have my laptop back, so I can write again without anyone bugging me for the computer. Of course it means I'm typing on notepad again, I must really get a better program. Well, while reading through some past chapters to make sure that I'm getting some things right I found a sentence that I found quite amusing, and from the looks of it I never quite got the idea right." I'm Prince Roald but it seems I must take my leave to pack." said by Kel. I cannot believe I let such a mistake slip through my editing.**

Chapter Seven  
Kel's POV

"Time to get up people." I heard a voice say.

I looked up to see Dom sticking his head inside the tent. "Do you normally wake Kel up like this when she is travelling with the Own?"

"Not at all, I the proof that you were separated for the night. It's nice to know someone that someone can truthfully swear to it."

I was surprised that I hadn't woken up myself; normally I was up by dawn. "No one is going to believe anything you say Dom, no matter what you swear by. What time is it anyways?"

"About an hour before dawn. Either way the sun is not out yet and you may want to hurry up and get ready, you know Lord Raoul is never in a good mood when he has to get up this early."

"Do you know why we are up this early?"

"Training, getting up before dawn, taking down camp and setting off with breakfast at hand, although I believe they are going to let us eat before we set off. You might want to start getting ready."

I climbed out of my bed roll as Dom left us alone. From my pack I pulled out a comb and ran it through my hair.

"For all your being tough you sure take care of your appearance Kel." said Joren.

"With hair this long it is better to run a comb through it rather than let knots form over days of work. Not as painful, you have your own comb anyways so you can't claim that I'm being all girly, or else you must admit to being girly yourself."

I knew I had hit one of his soft spots. He had always hated be told about his girly looks. I straightened my tunic and picked up my pack. Theo was still half asleep in his bed roll. Passing him I kicked his legs, not painfully hard, but hard enough to wake him up. "Hurry up, your slowness affects us all. For as much as you might hate waking up, it's a hell of a lot better than being asleep when your enemy happens upon your camp because you weren't moving fast enough, all because you were tired."

I left the tent and placed my pack against the tree. I sat down next to it waiting for Joren and Theo to come out. Raoul came out from the tent next to ours. "Relaxing already Kel? You tent isn't even down yet."

"I'm waiting for the boys to finish up. One would think that since they are guys they would get ready faster than me who is a girl. People should start rethinking these ideas."

"It all depends on the girl Kel. One wearing dresses takes longer than one wearing breeches."

"I was always ready along with the boys, even when I was wearing dresses to dinner, sir."

"Well then you shall make your husband happy one day. The one complaint I always hear is how long it takes their wife to get ready, and that they are only done just in time to b almost late."

"I think it is a little early to think like that sir. You should worry for yourself first. You will be married before me most likely, if only to get the mothers off your back."

"Don't think of me as so cold hearted Kel. Anyways the woman would have to be a strong one, all the displeased mothers will put her down and try and make their own daughter seem better. Now no more talk of marriage pushing mothers. I didn't come out into the woods to talk about them."

"To escape from them is more likely." I muttered under my breath.

"I'm surprised how much being with the Own is changing you; I never expected to hear something like that come from you."

"I think it is just the time of day and my being so tired that is letting me act like this. I apologize for what I said sir."

"No worries Kel, truth be told I needed a reason to escape the two balls being held in the next couple of days, although I wonder what King Jon will do without his pages to serve at the suppers first, as well as all the squires being gone."

"There are people who work in the castle, and they do as much during any feast that occurs when we are gone."

"That is true, now if you excuse me, I must go in search of food."

Joren and Theo stepped out of the tent as Raoul walked away. "I thought that Dom said Lord Raoul is never in a good mood about being up early."

"I think why he has chosen this week has so much hapiness in it for him that it out weighs his dislike of mornings, especially since nothing was said against his leaving."

"Nothing was said against his leaving?" asked Theo.

I looked over at him. "One thing you must learn is how you knight master acts. In my case I know that Sir Raoul does not like attending formal functions and will avoid them at all costs. On the other hand King Jon and Queen Thayet are always doing their best to force him to go. With two events coming up in the next couple of days, he created this training excuse to get away from the castle and any social details."

"You know, most people have a normal knight master, unlike you and Neal. They don't have to worry about little details such as those. They only really need to know is a knight's preference when it comes to certain things, like if they want help preparing before a match or not. Most people do not have an in-depth look at their knight master's social behaviour. Although Sir Raoul is known for his."

"Either way you need to know the details about your knight master's preferences."

Theo nodded. Together the three of us began to take down the tent. It was mindless work and my mind began to wonder towards thoughts of Roald. He had said he was trying to change the situation he was in. At this point there really is no way, not without ruining all the work my parents had put into creating this agreement between the two countries. To try and call off the wedding could lead to problems. I could only hope that he wouldn't try to do something stupid.

With the tent packed up the three of us headed towards the fire to get our breakfast, which consisted of boiled oats. It's not so much that I would like to complain about the meal, but it is much simple than what I had been eating for the past while. "Certainly not what we have been eating lately, huh Kel?" Merric said voicing my thoughts.

"Much simpler, although at least right now I don't have to force anyone to eat their vegetables."

"Ah, but the choices we had there, I would love to see something like that again."

"Well it did seem they always had extra food, and no worries about making sure it was all eaten and not wasted."

"The wonders of advancement. I would if with magic we can find a more convenient way to do the same thing?"

"Maybe someday, but for today we have boiled oats and a forest to walk through."

"Did you happen to bring any of your work with you?"

"I brought the lists I'm creating. Last night I finished the lists of disappearances and re-appearances, now I'm looking in similarities in location. I also believe it would be best to find out where they were last seen, or the last place they were planning on heading, of course we will have to be careful with that, most people won't like talking to a squire or knight."

"I'm starting to feel so useless. Have Roald or Neal contributed anything yet?"

"No both of them were quite busy before leaving; I hadn't a chance to discuss anything with them. I figure work with what I have now, and report my findings. If you would like you can help me out during this exercise. Some of the list of people who disappeared included their place of residence at the time. That might hold some clue as to where the next people might disappear from."

"Tell me when you're working on it and I will give you any help that I can."

With breakfast done and all the tents packed up we left again in the order we had been walking the day before. I stayed closer to the back of the group, away from the three who had tried to scare me the night before. Joren had been walking beside me silently for almost two hours before he spoke. "So, what were you and Merric talking about at breakfast?"

I nearly let a look of surprise fall onto my face, he couldn't have been thinking about that for the past two hours could he? "About the food we had eaten while we were away, as well as the mystery that has been placed before us. He hadn't realized I had finished the name comparison. He wants to help me while we are here with training. It is better to have at least two of us looking at the information we have."

"Wouldn't a third mind be even better?"

"Yes, but both Sir Raoul and Lord Wyldon are so busy I couldn't dare ask one of them to help out."

I laughed at the look of disappointment on Joren's face. "Yes your help would be appreciated, although you must swear to secrecy."

"I solemnly swear to not tell another soul of the work we are doing other than you, Merric, Roald and Neal. Although I'm sure the last two will be displeased with this idea."

"Merric might be against it to, but if I trust you, they will have to listen to me. Anyways, I'm the one with the book."

"How did you get that book anyways?"

"Luck. One of the teachers at the school travels to teaching fencing. He happened to have come from here and was willing to get a copy of this book for us. Normally when one returns they are to destroy the book, but in our case we have the king wanting us to find out why."

"It most likely takes a lot of power to do so Kel."

"That's just it though, it may take a lot of power, and I'm not sure since I never did ask Sir Alanna, but it can be done by human mages."

"Are you sure it is not the gods themselves. They very well could have given Alanna the power to get you back."

"But then why would they have sent us there in the first place?"

"I am not one to try and answer questions about the gods doings, if it is so. Of course if it is a mage, what can they gain from all of this, and how did they manage to send you Roald, Neal and Merric?"

"See that is the problem. Our common connection before disappearing is going to see Roger and if it does take a lot of power, he wouldn't have been able to do so since the limitations have been placed on his magic."

"Mayhap he had help from someone else."

"Anyone who helped would find themselves punished though, it may not be kidnapping the prince, but it is close enough."

"Who would have expected Alanna to be able to find you and bring you back? It is not common magic that she used is it?"

"I wish I knew. It's not like I can talk to her in private, to many people will speak against it. That and I have to wait until I can see Neal again to get him to ask her these questions since it is not something I can send by letter. Of course I may be able to speak with King Jon but that will have to wait until I get back."

"Well then, maybe along with looking at where the people originally came from you can also look for reasons why you might have been sent away, who could gain from it."

"Four random pages, well maybe two random pages, the Girl, and the Crown Prince. There are many people who would want me out of the castle, and maybe Roald as well, seeing as his family is for changes."

"See, so there is a chance the person who did this is a strong conservative."

"Yes and how many of those are there in our country?"

"True, but you may be able to narrow it down, you just need to think."

We walked out from beneath the trees and into the clearing where we would be spending the next couple of day. I recognized it from my page days. Only if I recalled correctly it only took us a day to walk here. I looked at Raoul who noticed my looking around at the clearing. "You recognize this place Kel?"

"Came here once as a page. Although if I recall correctly it didn't take us as long to get here."

"Well since we did happen to leave a little late, we had to go along a different way since we needed a clearing to set up camp in last night."

"If only sleep was extremely important to some people."

"Kel, what I told the Own applies to you as well."

"I know, but most of the pages probably know by now that we left after you got to sleep in."

"No one should mention it near me then."

"Does that mean we can tell stories as long as you're not near enough to hear?"

"My hearing extends to great distances, especially when pages come to ask if certain events are true."

"Well then I shall be sure only to tell the stories to those I trust to keep quiet."

"Will you be able to lie to me about it later if I asked?"

"I should not sir; I can only hope you will be understanding sir."

"Go help set up your tent squire, afterwards I want you and your group to find wood for tonight's fire. Everyone should be ready for a meal by the time they arrive and we wouldn't want to keep them waiting long."

I bowed my head slightly and left to help Joren and Theo set up the tent. Merric and the other three were setting their tent up next to ours. When we were nearly finished I passed on the order in a voice loud enough that I would only have to say it once. When our tent was done I placed my pack inside and went over to the other tent. Joren and Theo were helping them drive the stakes into the ground. "Would you guys like me to place your stuff in our tent?"

Both of them replied yes so I left to do so for them. I heard Caleb mutter, "Can't even help sent up a tent?"

I was willing to ignore the comment and leave the guys to finish up when I heard a thud. I turned to see Caleb on the ground with Joren holding him down. "You will not speak like that again, understand. Be happy she is so good at controlling her emotions, or you would be wishing you had a palace healer for you wounds. Next time I hear something like that, I will do my best to convince her to beat you up before this exercise is over."

"Joren let him go. I can withstand such a simple comment. It is quite uncreative, something he probably overheard in the castle adjusted slightly to fit this moment."

Joren applied a bit of pressure to Caleb's neck before letting him go getting up Joren came over to me, "Sorry Merric, but I think you guys are going to have to finish by yourselves. We should have enough time to arrange our tent for tonight while you finish up. Seeing as you have such weak help."

Theo let go of the rock he had been using to drive the stake into the ground. He stood up and walked over to where Joren and I were standing. We were beginning to walk away when I heard Merric say, "It would be faster if you helped, but I understand your hope to be done quickly. I tell you when we are done this and ready to go find wood."

I could tell from Merric's voice that he wished he didn't have to stay as well, but he couldn't leave the three guys alone, especially since he was staying in the tent they were setting up. Inside our own tent I sat down next to my pack and pulled out my bedroll. I placed it along one side of the tent making sure it didn't touch the tent itself. Joren and Theo placed there packs next to mine and laid their own bedrolls on the other side. As we finished straighten up all our stuff Merric's head popped into the tent. "Ready to go?"

I crawled out of the tent after Joren and Theo. Together with the other three we went into the woods to find some branches for kindling. I had to remind both Joren and Merric that the clearing would have the basic wood for the fire already since it was often used as the last stop before people travelled onto Corus. It didn't take us long before we were back at the camp with our arms full of branches ready to use. We placed them with the wood, before bringing some to the fire pit. While we were laying them inside Dom came over with a piece of flint and a stone. He had just begun to strike the pieces together when Wyldon's voice cut across the noise of the camp. "Wait until all the pages can be there to observe this."

I could tell Dom wanted to make a remark about this even though he knew he wouldn't be able to. I placed my hand on his shoulder and raised my eyebrows. "I know, I know, we can't corrupt the minds of the young ones, just once I would like to say something back to him."

"Most of us would. Just remember to hold your tongue until he can't hear."

"Is that how you manage to keep so calm all the time, just hold your tongue, knowing you can say whatever you want later?"

"No, I use a trick that I learnt in the Yamani Islands. I can teach it to you some time if you would like."

"It seems that such knowledge could be very useful. It might teach me to be calm enough to think before I speak."

I laughed at his bringing up yesterday's argument. "So you finally agree. No, today should be proof that I think before I speak."

"Fine then, you think before you speak when you fear the consequences that come with your speaking freely."

Dom smiled at me and I smiled back. I looked up to see Wyldon heading our way. The pages were doing so as well. "Thank you for waiting," turning from us he began to speak to the pages, "It is important that you learn how to start a fire without magic. I'm not saying that using magic to start a fire isn't useful knowledge, but you never know when you will be travelling without a mage, or when the mage you are travelling with becomes burned out and you need to rely on your tools and yourself to create a fire. We shall have a demonstration tonight, after this; you shall be working in pairs to start the cooking fires yourself. I suggest you watch closely because I know that the others here will not be happy when they have to wait longer for their food because you cannot start a fire with a piece of flint and a rock. If I hear of anyone using magic to start a fire during their turn they shall be punished."

He stepped aside so that Dom was visible to everyone. Standing the closest to him I was the only one who heard Dom say, "Never thought I would be starting a fire for an audience."

I kept silent, not knowing if he meant for me to hear it or not. He held up his hands to show how he was holding both the stone and the flint. He began to strike the flint with the stone holding it close to the dry grass that had been placed close to the twigs. His first movements were large and exaggerated, showing how the rock should hit the flint, before he began making small quick moments that would actually start the fire. Once he had a small fire in the pile of grass he took one of the small twigs and held it close letting it catching on fire. He lit the other twigs using the first one before dropping it on the pile of wood. Soon the flames were well enough to begin cooking over. The pages were given time to finish setting up their tents while food was placed out to be cooked. "Where you ignoring my comment on purpose Kel?"

"I wasn't sure if I was suppose to hear the comment or not. I figured there is no harm in me not saying anything."

"If you had responded, what would you have said?"

"I'm not sure, maybe something about you and your love of having an audience."

"That is only when I'm telling a story, then I rarely embarrass myself. I'll see you at supper; I don't think I should trust those setting up my tent to do so properly."

I nodded at him and watched him walk away. "Are you over him yet?"

"No, although if this exercise is eventful enough it may keep him out of my head for a few days."

"Just checking, I don't want to lose to someone else since I hadn't notice you were over him yet and the other person did."

With that Joren left me by myself. He couldn't have really meant what he said could he? Forget having an eventful exercise, the questions Joren keeps leaving with me are enough to confuse me out of remembering anything.

**A/N~ A longer update then I planned on, but when I was ready to switch over to the other computer to upload this from I couldn't because it was in use. But here is the nice update now. My thoughts after writing this chapter- Joren or Dom? Dom or Joren? Tell me what you think.**


	8. Camp Night 2

**Disclaimer: These character do not belong to me, they belong to Tamora Pierce.**

**A/N- *Dodging everything being thrown* I know it has been forever since the last time I updated, and I really wished I had the time to update more often, but I don't even have time to work on my own stories... which I keep being told to do, although I have another year to complete it know... I shall do as much writing as I can during this break because it could be months before I get a chance to do so again. Although I will try to update when I can.**

**Chapter Eight**

Kel's POV

I walked back to my tent trying to figure out Joren's actions lately. I gave up as I pulled out the book and list from my pack once again. After collecting the wood, my group was free of all activities for now so I knew Merric would be able to look through the list with me.

I found him sitting partially in the woods by himself. I flopped on the ground in front of him, placing the book and lists between us. "Kel, hey. You surprised me."

"You don't look very surprised."

"I expected that someone would come out here sooner or later, so no point in worrying about every little noise."

"You seem slightly depressed."

"Not so much depressed as angry."

"Explain."

"I just wish I could do more to stand up for you. I would've loved to hurt Caleb earlier."

"You're doing enough as is just by staying with the guys. It wouldn't be good for you to be hurting them anyways; you're stuck in a tent with them. If you really feel a need to stop a comment or what not, a slight smack to the back of the head as a reminder of proper behaviour should be fine, and you will most likely be able to keep yourself out of trouble that way."

"Why must you always make me feel like an idiot Kel?"

"Stop putting yourself in positions where I can and you will notice that I do that a lot less."

"And I've done so once again. Clearly explain what you've done with this so far please."

He motioned to the items between us so that I would understand what he was talking about.

It didn't take me long to go through what I had done, since even though it had taken me a while I hadn't done much. "It would be better if we could look into the names that only appear in the book. Since we only have disappearances from Corus we might be missing information, these other people may have disappeared from other parts of Tortall."

"If we're lucky that is. There is always a chance that someone has stumbled upon this connection and is using it as a way to make it here, almost as if it is an experiment to test theories about other worlds. Similar to what Steve mentioned the one day when we were playing video games. The idea that there is more than one world and that somehow one might be able to cross from one to the next. Like us going from here to there."

"True, we never did find out about how one can get their name added to the book at all. If all one needs to do is to claim to be from Tortall, overhearing one conversation would be enough to act to have their name added to the book."

"I will talk to Raoul later. This must be brought up with the king. I don't know why none of us had thought about this before."

"We've all been busy since we got back. We're just lucky to have you putting so much effort into this. I would hate to be called before King Jon and have nothing to report."

"I don't know if I fear that or having to report our latest thoughts. It feels almost like an enemy has gotten too much information about our plans right now, and we don't know who the enemy is, because for all we saw of the other world, there are so many people they could be."

"Plus spies like this would number in few in comparison to full troops."

"I don't even want to think like this anymore. It must be near suppertime. I suggest we go and get some food before it gets cold, or overcooked. I will make sure to talk to Raoul the first chance I get."

"I agree to that thought. Tell me what he suggests we do with these thoughts. I know for sure he won't let us send word by message, and we can't use a mage in this situation. I fear that I will be stuck going back by myself if anything."

"None of us will be sent back alone, I can promise you that. Anyways it's not like he can really spare anyone right know. Worse comes to worse we will have to report as soon as we get back, which will be in a couple days at this rate, unless Raoul decides to turn the entire group around and head back to Corus in the morning."

"I don't want to think about going back now. Let's just go get food, and forget the rest for now."

Merric stood up, and headed for the fire. I grabbed the book and lists and put them back in my bag. I left the tent and ventured towards the fire. We were served stew right out of the pot, which hadn't been off the fire for long.

Without thinking I took and spoonful and stuck it right in my mouth. Immediately I began fanning my mouth with my hand. Dom sat down next to me, giving me a weird look, "Too spicy or something for you Kel?"

"Spice I can deal with. Forgetting about how hot food is, not as easy."

"Can you not feel the heat of it with your hand Kel?"

"I can, I just acted without thinking. I've had a lot of other things on my mind lately. Forgotten about some of the simple things, like the fact that hot food burns the mouth."

"You burnt your mouth? Are you okay Kel?"

"I'm fine Joren. I'm not one of the delicate ladies of the court remember?"

"Delicate or not, it still hurts to burn one's mouth."

"Either way, I'm fine, and won't make the same mistake again."

"What mistake did you make Kel?" Raoul asked as he joined the group.

"At this point we might as well shout out to everyone here that I burnt my mouth on the stew."

"Beats burning you hand because you forgot the pot was hot." Raoul said as he pointed to one of the pages having his hand treated by a mage.

"Less painful yes, I guess I was lucky then."

"Maybe for now. I need to talk with you later."

"Yes sir."

"Has our little Kel done something wrong?"

"She isn't your little Kel Dom."

"I'm just trying to bug her Joren. Get her to show some emotion, without having her go crazy on me."

"It takes quite a bit to get her to do that."

"It is worth it when you do see her without it though. Is it not?"

"Can the two of you please stop discussing me as if I'm not hearing the entire conversation?"

I made sure to keep my face blank while I let a little emotion escape through my voice. Both guys flashed a smile at me before beginning to eat their own meals. I looked at the bowl in my hand and took a careful bite before digging in.

After finishing my meal I brought my bowl to the pages washing dishes and handed it over. It made me happy to think that I got off easy today because of the order we arrived in. Nothing beat only having to collect kindle.

I made my way over to the edge of the clearing where Raoul was standing. "You said you wanted to speak with me?"

"Merric mentioned that the two of you came up with a few ideas that should be discussed immediately. He didn't want to say anything at that point because there were too many people around. So I told Wyldon I wanted to go over a few things with you, and asked him to deal with all problems until I get back. So you can speak freely now."

I told Raoul the ideas that Merric and I had come up with. He listened carefully. When I finished he nodded. "I hadn't given much thought about someone from there discovering this information. Jon may have thought of it and is keeping quiet for now so that rumours don't spread. You shall report to him as soon as we return to the castle. Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, I'm not sure if I should be asking you something like this, but what do you think about letting Joren know about this. I'm pretty sure he knows something is up. We do share a tent and group."

"Another thing you should really only discuss with Jon I believe. Although if you believe you can trust him and that he will be of some help, you should do what you think is best."

"I trust him, or I think I can. It is the others I worry about. Merric might not be hard to bring around, but Neal and the prince might be harder."

"They're your friends Kel. I believe they will trust your judgement. Think it over and tell me what you decide. If that is everything I should get back. I still have to keep an eye on the Own sitting around the fire. One can never tell when they decide it is story time, no matter what warnings they were given."

I smiled as he walked back towards the fire where I could see three of the Own laughing extremely hard. I looked at the sky and decided there was nothing more I could do that night. I may have clarified what Joren had figured out, but I felt I needed to check with Raoul before handing over the work for Joren to look at himself. As he said he might be able to give new insight on everything. Something which might be something we need right now as we begin to plan how to approach the families of these missing people.

**A/N- Although Joren knew much, I didn't feel right letting Kel hand over everything for him to see without talking to Raoul first. I hope I managed to catch the more serious him with his advice. Please review. :)**


	9. Camp Day 3 Part 1

**Disclaimer: These character do not belong to me, they belong to Tamora Pierce.**

**A/N- I apologize for not updating for such a long period of time. I cannot believe it has been this long since I last updated, especially since I know this isn't the world's greatest story, so I lose readers when I go so long without updating. Life can completely make me forget about things/ not give me the time to do what I want. I hope I can continue to update this story more often. Again SORRY! But here is the latest chapter.**

**Chapter Nine**

Kel's POV

After talking with Raoul last night I went back to my tent and fell asleep without doing anything else. It seemed as if the discussion with Raoul helped clear my head of my worries a little. Especially since he had mentioned that King Jon may have already thought about our outsider knowledge theory. Out of everything we could have to report, a theory like that could cause trouble.

Of course thinking about the list and information brought worries back again. I knew I had to bring it with me so I could continue working on it, but I also had to be on constant watch out for anyone going near my bag. As well as the fact that I would have to find a way to meet up with both Neal and Roald.

"Are you already awake Kel?"

"Yeah, did I wake you Theo?"

"No, I was just hoping the movement from that side of the tent was you and not an animal."

"Don't like animals, or have a fear of them?"

"Neither, it's just too early to have to deal with them."

"True. You go back to sleep, when it comes to an exercise like this, you want to sleep when you can cause you never know what they have in store for you."

"What about you? You going back to sleep?"

"No, I think I fell asleep a little too early last night. I'm going to go sit outside for a bit."

I got out of my bed roll and packed it away allowing for more room in the tent. I pulled out a comb and ran it through my hair quickly before quietly crawling through the boys' part of the tent to the outdoors.

No one else was awake at this time. It was about the same time we had to wake up the day prior, but it seemed we were being given the chance to get a little extra rest. I walked over to the fire pit and sat on the ground with my back against one of the logs. The ground was wet from the morning dew that would burn off with the sun later.

It would've been nice if my mind stayed blank empty of all thoughts. But this time of day seems to be the perfect time for thinking. Pulling up things you didn't want to think about because you don't have to worry as much. The only thing at this point that could see you was the nature that surrounded the camp. It seemed to want to know what was on my mind to add to the collection of knowledge that it already has, and will never let go of.

As long as we would be working on the list, and trying to use what we've learnt from the other world to solve everything, I wouldn't be able to lock away everything that happened then. I wish I could. Just block out the pain, but for some reason at this point it seemed to just flow through me. If I had been in my own room at the palace there is a good chance I would have just broken down and started crying, but since I was in the middle of a clearing surround by men and boys who could wake up at any moment I knew I couldn't.

I heard a twig snap behind me. Pulling away from my thoughts I let my face fall into its blank look. I turned my head to see Merric standing a few feet away. "Sorry Kel. I didn't mean to disturb you. I looked in your tent and saw that you were missing. I was only looking for you, since I didn't want to go through your pack to find the book myself."

I laughed slightly, letting his rambling bring some joy to me. "You sound like a child who has been caught doing something."

"I feel like one. Even though I don't know what you're doing, I felt as though it would be best to stay clear which is why I was about to turn around."

"Don't worry about it. Come join me, everyone will be awake soon and this silence will be broken anyways."

"You mind me asking what you were thinking about?"

"Not much and everything. Mainly about the other world."

"Do you prefer it there?"

"No, it's just some things were so much simpler there, made a little more difficult after returning."

He just sighed a little and looked towards the trees. We both sat there in silence for a few minutes before Merric broke the silence. "Kel, did you see that?"

"See what?"

"The bushes there I swear they moved."

I looked in the direction he was pointing and saw nothing. "The sun is only starting to lighten the sky. You are probably seeing things."

"Just watch in case it moves again."

Merric was right and it did. This time we knew what was moving it. A little girl no older than ten began walking towards us. "Merric, go wake up Lord Raoul. His tent is close. Be quiet though, we don't want to scare her away."

Merric slowly got up and started walking in the direction of Raoul's tent. The girl stopped when Merric started moving, her eyes followed him for a minute before returning to me. I smiled at her a little hoping that she would not be frightened by us. I heard footsteps behind me, followed by a voice, "Kel, you shouldn't just remain sitting there like that. You don't know if she is alone or not."

"She has yet to look back to the woods, or even move back towards them. I did not want to scare her away if she is really only a little girl lost by herself."

"I understand your reasoning Kel, but next times please take more caution. Although I guess that covers the reason why you did not yell to wake the entire camp."

"Yes sir, I promise I will."

"Merric, go get Wyldon, tell him to be careful and keep an eye for anything. But tell him I don't want him to wake the camp yet."

"Yes sir."

Merric left in the same manner he had to get Raoul, this time towards the opposite side of the camp. Raoul moved to sit next to me, except on the log from which he could easily get up from. I still didn't move, and he didn't tell me to. I let my gaze move from the girl and the forest to see what Raoul was doing since I could tell he was moving.

He had begun smiling at the girl, waving her to come join us. She cautiously stepped forward, keeping her eyes on us. It took her time to cross the short distance to where we were sitting. She reached us moments before Merric came back with Lord Wyldon, who looked at the girl with surprise.

Raoul had turned his head to Wyldon, "You look surprised. Do you know her?"

"No it's just the fact that there is a girl here. Especially one so young."

The girl stood up straighter. "I'm not that young sir. I'm already eleven."

"You speak well. Where did you come from?"

"A city, sir. My brother told me to tell no one."

"Your brother, is he in the woods there?"

"No, he is in Corus. He told me if he hadn't returned within two months that I should travel along the road 'til I get there."

"Then why are you not on the road?"

"The road is dangerous. I hid from men who came to take our stuff. I heard them say that he would never return again, and they need to find me. I knew I had to head to Corus and find my brother myself, but not going near the road where I may be found."

"You're very smart for someone your age. Will you share your name?"

"Alyxina, sir."

"I am Lord Wyldon, this here is Lord Raoul. We would be willing to ensure that you get to Corus safely."

"I can't afford to pay for any sort of protection."

"You won't have to. We are travelling with a group. Many no older then you are. I even offer my help in finding your brother."

"Really sir? At no cost to me?"

"Yes."

The girl ran over and gave Wyldon a hug. He looked a little uncomfortable at it, but patted the girl's back lightly anyways. "Now, this is the girl you are going to listen to while you're with us. Her name is Kel. If you have any questions ask her. If you find yourself having troubles with something ask her. You will share the same tent that she does, and will have to obey the same rules. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. I won't cause any problems I promise."

She turned and smiled at me, I smiled back. Since my siblings were older than me I was used to children, but I never dealt with one that was not a niece or nephew, and not since I had started my training. Wyldon looked at the sky, stretched and began walking towards the tents. I knew I only had a few minutes before Lord Wyldon had everyone awake and leaving their tents.

"Do you think this is another missing name we should look more into?"

"We may need to, but we can decide that later. For now I want you to quietly take her to your tent and for the two of you to stay there until I come from you. It would be best if we tell everyone that we have a new companion, and that they are not to speak about it, and to not do anything that will scare her."

Merric joined me in walking back to where I tents were. "I wonder why the Stump was so nice to her," he whispered eyeing Alyxina who was walking on the other side of me.

"If I'm not mistaken he has a daughter or two of his own. Makes it easier to worry about kids if you do."

"That does make sense. I'll see you later." he said entering his own tent not caring about how much noise he was making.

I opened the flap to my tent, and warned Alyxina to be careful and to go to the other side of the packs in the middle. When she was behind the packs I woke Joren and Theo up. "Raoul believes Wyldon will be making a speech to everyone, it will especially affect you two, so I suggest you hurry up and get ready. And please don't say much while you do. Just up, ready, leave, and don't worry about me."

I crawled over to my side of the tent. Joining Alyxina, I put my finger over my lips signalling her to keep quiet. We stayed quiet until the boys had left the tent. When I was sure they were not in hearing distance I began to talk. "My name is Kel. The other boy that came back with us is Merric. The two boys in this tent you don't have to worry about."

"I'm Alyxina. Do you really think I can find my brother?"

"There is a chance that we will be able to. I'm not sure if they will cut our training short, but if not we will be here a few more days. Right now you are with a group of pages, three squires and the Kings Own; you don't have much to worry about."

I looked her up and down to see what sort of state she was in. I had been only watching her before so I hadn't realized how much of a toll the forest had taken on her appearance. I pulled out a cloth and my water canteen. I wet it and handed it to her. She used it to clean her face before handing it back. "Thank you, that feels so much better."

I handed her the canteen to drink from. "I don't have any food on me right now, but we will be able to get some in a bit."

She nodded then took a long drink. I let her satisfy her thirst while I pulled out my comb and a spare outfit. "I know this is going to be big on you but there isn't much we can do about that right now. Although we might be able to find something to tie around your waist to help hold the breeches up. You may not be used to wearing them, but you're not going to find any dresses in camp to wear while we wash this one."

"It's okay; with the tunic over top they will barely be seen. I can roll up the breeches slightly to fit, and the ribbon on this dress isn't sown on. I only tied it around to look nice, so I can use that to hold them up."

I heard footsteps outside our tent. I put my finger over my mouth again. I crawled over to the flap to see who it was. Lord Raoul was standing with his back to the tent. "Kel. Please come out for a moment."

"One second sir."

I poked my head over the packs, "Get changed, I'll help you fix everything when I come back in. If any guys come in the tent, stay quiet. The comb is next to the pack, you can use it for your hair."

She nodded and began to get changed. I crawled out of the tent and walked the few steps to where Raoul was. "I'm here sir."

"We are ready for you two to come out. Breakfast is being made as we speak and everyone has been warned."

"Okay sir, we will join in a few minutes. She is just putting on a clean outfit now."

"How does she have a clean outfit to wear?"

"I gave her one of my spare ones. She cannot continue wearing her dress, it need a washing, if I can get permission to do so after breakfast before starting any tasks?"

"You have permission. We will stay here tonight and leave tomorrow. The only thing happening today is looking for tracks in the woods. Alyxina can join in. I will make sure your group is with mine, that way I can help you keep a watch on her and not worry, and we can leave a little later that way."

"Thank you sir. She is most likely ready by now."

"Ah, yes. You can go back."

I went back into the tent. "Do not worry, it is only me."

Alyxina popped up from behind the backs. "I'm almost done; I'm just having trouble rolling everything up."

I helped her re-adjust everything so that she would not hurt herself doing every day things. "Come let's go get some food before we do anything else."

She nodded and followed out of the tent towards the group.

**A/N~ So there is chapter nine :D Because of the eventful beginning to the day it will be broken into two parts. Hopefully I will get the next part up soon. Please leave a review if you like this chapter.**


	10. Camp Day 3 Part 2

**Disclaimer: These character do not belong to me, they belong to Tamora Pierce.**

**A/N~ the hardest part about coming back so long after I stopped writing, I was only part way through the idea and me being the brilliant person I am I didn't write down how I wanted to continue the day. And the few notes I do have are absolutely nothing to do with this chapter, and are pretty pointless over all... Anywho I don't know if anyone really reads my random notes, but once again I apologize for the long wait for this chapter.**

**Chapter Ten**

Kel's POV

As we walked to the fire I saw looks of surprise. I know Wyldon warned the group, but now I was curious as to what exactly he had told them. The news of a guest who was to be left alone wouldn't have clued them into the fact that she was a young girl. I led her straight to the pots off to the side of the fire to get some boiled oats for breakfast. She smiled as we were served our share. "Do you like boiled oats that much?" I asked her.

"No, but back home I would be lucky to get half this amount. It's not very often that we had much food. Although being used to less made it much easier to survive in the forest."

I nodded at her and led her to where Joren and Theo were sitting. Theo looked at her with quite the curious look on his face. Joren glanced at her then turned his attention to me. "When did she arrive?"

"Early this morning, she was actually in our tent when you two left. What did Wyldon tell you?"

"He said that training was being cut early do to a guest whom he doesn't want to keep in the woods with us long. There was nothing to worry about but just to keep our eyes open for anything suspicious looking. And now I'm really curious."

"She has a missing sibling and it seems quite serious. I'm not even sure that he would still be alive from what she relayed to Wyldon, but tell no one this, if he didn't share it, it doesn't go past your ears."

He nodded and turned back to his bowl of food and began eating again as Wyldon made his way to the fire. "Everyone listen up. Today we are doing as small exercise in tracking. Now I don't want anyone wandering away from their group at any point and time. We will have to different sets of teams running. The first set will be given a map with an outlined and they will go out first, while moving I want you to cover your tracks to the best of your ability. The following team will have the same starting point but will only have a map of the area, no path to follow. The second team is going to try and track down the first, when you do so both teams are to return to this area. If you have not found anyone by noon I want you to return to the camp. I plan on leaving before tonight and would like to make it to the clearing from last time as soon as possible after that. Everyone clear on that?"

"Yes sir" chimed the group still clueless as to what about the appearance of such a girl could cause all of this caution. I looked for Raoul for a sign as to whether or not our group would be leaving later for the exercise. He shook his head. Knowing him even if he can't get around the exercise he would have some idea to manipulate things so that it would work for his plans. I finished my own food and looked over at Alyxina, "If you don't feel like you can eat it all, don't worry it's more than your used to."

"Yes, Kel. I just want to be careful though. I know it's nothing rich, but after living on plants and what I managed to bring with me, I'm scared eating this to quickly will hurt my stomach."

"You really do speak well. I'm surprised to hear such from you."

"It was my mother. She had hopes that being able to speak well would help my brother and I. She learnt from a friend when she was younger. She also taught me how to read a little. I can't read much, but I know enough to understand some things."

"Your mother must have been a great woman, to have taught you these things in hopes for your future."

"She was, but yours must think something great of you, I mean you are training with these men. It's not something everyone can do."

"No, but if you can put your mind to it, and don't give into the problems from all the hard work, you can do it. Plus it's what I want to do, and it will help prove the will power of girls. Not only can we do a lot within our own homes, but we can do much for the country."

"Maybe, but it takes a lot to make a stubborn man think that way."

I held back some laughter, she may only be eleven, yet some of what she said was true and beyond her years. She had basically stopped touching her food, so figuring she was done I asked her so. She nodded her head in response. Leading her over to the dish washers I looked around for Raoul. I spotted him near Wyldon speaking, not so much away from the camp completely but more so away from the pages ears. I could tell their discussion was coming to an end as they both started nodding in agreement about something.

I was about to look away when I saw Raoul looking around the camp. When he spotted me, he held up a finger and then waved me over. I led Alyxina back over to where Joren was sitting by the fire before going to him. "Instead of doing the exercise, the pages in your group will be split up amongst the others and we shall start clearing the camp. You can take Alyxina down to the river with you to get some water and to wash her dress in the same time."

I gave a curt nod and responded with a 'yes sir' before heading back to the fire. I put a smile on my face as I got closer. Tracking exercise would've been better then cleaning if you asked me, but I couldn't go against orders, and can't put any blame on Alyxina, it's not her fault. My group was huddled around Wyldon, "I expect Raoul told you everything already Kel," I nodded, "Well then, I expect proper work from all of you and no complaining. All tents will have the bags of those sleeping in it next to them. I hope I can trust you enough to just take down the tents and make sure they are properly packed."

We all gave him as yes sir before splitting up to start our assigned tasks. Since the first thing to be done was getting Alyxina's dress washed, I led her back to the tent to grab it before heading down to the stream to wash it. I was about to place the dress in the water when Alyxina stopped me. "I can do this myself. This dress is getting old so washing it to hard will probably cause it to fall apart. I'm used to doing this myself anyways. "

I stepped back to let her wash the dress herself. I kept an eye out scanning the woods for signs of anyone appearing. I didn't think anyone would try and get near the camp with the King's Own and pages spread out in the forest, but then again no one would have expected the bandits in the hills when I was just a page.

I didn't move until Alyxina stood back up. "I'm done it just needs to dry some now."

"Well we'll let it dry out for now. If it's not dry enough to wear back we'll pack it with my stuff. You might prefer my clothes anyways for the walk back since they are a little better made for the woods."

"I don't mind as long as the pants agree to stay up."

I laughed slightly. The others may be used to seeing my so called Lump face, but for a girl who's been through so much recently I don't think it would help at all.

When we reach the camp again, every tent left standing hand bags next to it. Quite a few of the tents were already down. And the clean up staff had already dealt with everything from breakfast. Knowing my tent would be one of the last ones to be taken down I brought Alyxina's dress over to it, and used one pole to help keep it up so that it could dry in the sun. I spotted Raoul and Wyldon easily taking down a tent by themselves. Wyldon had given instructions if help was needed to give some form of signal since he was not going to check on any groups due to the fact that each group had experienced members with it this time.

I walked over to where Joren and Merric were taking down a tent. Alyxina followed me, but stayed out of the way while we took down the tent. I wanted to talk more about my thoughts on Alyxina's brother, but didn't want to do so just in case she could hear us.

We worked steadily, finishing all taking down all the tents before the teams came back. Wyldon walked out to see how everyone was doing while the rest of us took a break. "Well now that we're done we'll be heading back as soon as all the groups gather. Lunch will be eaten on the road; we won't stop until we reach the clearing. One night there since it's clear out we will only be using partial tent forms for a quick set up and take down. Alyxina you're going to have to stay close to Kel. For sleeping I want you between Kel and the bags."

Alyxina nodded her reply, closing in on me as Wyldon and the others began to return. Once everyone was accounted for we began to track through the forest working our way back to the first clearing we spent the night at on this outing. Alyxina stayed close to me nervously looking about at the trees. I smiled down at her and took her hand, "There is nothing to worry about. You are travelling with three squires, four pages, and with a company of the Own and two knights close by. Nothing will happen to you."

She gripped my hand and smiled slightly. I've been travelling for days through this forest I guess I've gained a few habits."

I brushed her hair back off of her face. "Well as long as we keep moving we will be back in the castle by tomorrow. There you will be safe for sure, and from there we can search for your brother."

"You mean you will help search too?"

"As long as I'm in the castle and am given enough time to help I will. And if we aren't being called away from the castle I think Raoul will give me some freedom to help. It might help me with some other work anyways. I will make sure that if you need me you will have the ability to find me. See the boys up there," I said pointing to Merric and Joren who were walking slightly ahead, "Even if you can't find me go to one of those two and they will help you."

She nodded looking slightly scared of the idea of having to talk to either of them. This wouldn't work well if she didn't know that they were friendly enough to talk too. I picked our pace a bit so we would catch up with the pair. "I don't think you guys really were introduced well enough this morning. This is Alyxina , her brother received a job in Corus and went missing shortly afterwards. Wyldon offered her protection to the castle and help afterwards."

Joren and Merric both smiled at her and started introducing themselves. Merric started first, "'I'm Merric, you probably saw me going to get people this morning. I've been Kel's friend for years and would be happy to help you as much as I can. Although I'm afraid I won't be around the castle as much as Kel will be."

As soon as Merric finished talking Joren started, "I've not been friends with Kel as long as Merric has been, but Kel and I have become god friends recently," he moved to put his hand around me as he said it but I moved out of his way. Merric stifled a laugh at this. "Although I will be happy to help you as much as I can. I do have a question for you. Who hired your brother? He must have told you something."

"I'm not sure. I have the letter that was delivered to him though. I was going to show it to Sir Wyldon when we reached the castle."

"Where are you hiding it?" I asked, curious that I had not yet seen this paper.

"I had it tied under my dress with a piece of ribbon. I made sure that this shirt was hiding it when you came back into the tent to help me."

She was a smart girl for sure and a careful thinker which was helpful to her, she might even find a place for herself within the castle if we didn't manage to find her brother. "Would you mind if I carried it for you. I can put it in with some of my more precious items when we reach the next camp so that we can be sure nothing happens to it."

She looked a little reluctant, probably battling with the idea of losing it because she gave it to me. "I guess that will work, but I will need it back once we reach the castle. I want to hand it to Sir Wyldon myself so he doesn't think I had been planning on hiding it from him."

"I don't believe he will. If you want we can even talk to him tonight about it. He should be able to find some time to talk to you alone tonight."

Nervousness crossed her face as I mentioned talking to him alone. "I can go with you if you want. We can even talk to Raoul after we reach the camp site since it will only be our groups there for a short while."

She nodded at started looking back the forest once again. The four pages were walking ahead. Theo was ignoring the group of three and the three were ignoring everyone. I felt something hit my hand. I began to pull my hand closer to me when Joren grabbed it. "Feeling a little jumpy Kel?" he asked while holding back a laugh.

"No," I said pulling my hand out of his, "But this isn't a nice little stroll through the woods. We have to be aware of everything going on, and remember what kind of people might be watching."

I was trying to remind Joren of the three pages attitude but Theo had heard the last part of what I said, "What do you mean the kind of people that might be watching Kel?"

"Just because the forest is quiet it doesn't mean there aren't other people out there. We are a large travelling group and split up the way we are just talking normally won't carry to the next group even if a shout will. So what's to keep there from being others in hearing distance that we can't hear because they are being silent? They might just travels staying off the road, or they could be bandits looking for those who aren't on the road, or are pulling back from the road since they've attacked someone and need to escape and are using the thickness of the forest to hide them. We can't just slack off on watching just because it seems safe, or because there are many others nearby."

Alyxina's hand tightened on mine as I spoke. I looked down at her. Her eyes had opened wider in fear as she looked at the trees around her. I would have tried to reassure her, but I couldn't do much without going against the last bit I had said. I looked at Joren walking next to me. He took my hand again and leaned forward a little to get a better look at Alyxina, "You don't have to worry about that though, Alyxina, not when you have strong men like me around. I'm here to help as much as I can."

He had turned away from her and towards me as he said the last line. I gave in and let him continue to hold my hand until we were coming up on the clearing. In the clearing Raoul's group had begun to set up tents. We walked over to the space next to his as a group to set up our own tents. Once we placed our packs on the ground I took Alyxina over to where Raoul was helping drive in the last of the stakes. Only the top of the tents were to be put up tonight. I asked Raoul if we could speak to him alone for a minute. He agreed to it and led us a little ways off. Alyxina explained to him about the letter. He said she had nothing to worry about not telling them right away and that he would talked to Wyldon about it tonight after everyone was settled so that she didn't have to think about it again until after we reached the castle where she could safely give it to him to read without worrying about others seeing it.

Even though our conversation with Raoul was a short on the boys had the tent set up for the night by the time we got back. The boys had placed our bags under the covering in the middle of the tent making sure they were set up for the night. I opened my pack and took out Alyxina's dress and hung it off one of the strings holding up the tent so that it could continue to dry. I dug deeper into my pack and pulled out the book from its place. I turned to Alyxina who was sitting by the edge just inside the tent watching the sky. "Is there any way you think you could get the letter out now with no one seeing it?" I asked.

She nodded and moved between me and the packs. She began fiddling with the shirt in what appeared to be an attempt to undo the ribbon that held it to her. She smiled as she stood up to let the letter fall out. I carefully picked it up and placed it with the papers I had inside the book. Merric came over after noticing I had the book out. "Planning on doing some work Kel?"

"No, I don't think I will until we get back to the castle. I have something else that I want to ask someone else at the same time."

He seemed to pick up at the fact that I wanted to talk to King Jon about something even if he wasn't sure what it was I wanted to talk about. I began to think that there was a chance that Alyxina's brother might become the next victim of these cases of disappearing people. I wanted permission from King Jon to follow the case as closely as possible in case he really was because I could gain so much information first hand which would become very useful. Even if I couldn't figure out who it was any information would be useful. If not, maybe Alxyina's brother would be willing to become a contact of mine in the city which would be very useful.

The camp had started to fill up by this time so I put the book back into my pack and pulled out my comb and ran it through Alyxina's hair. I took the ribbon she had used to tie the letter to herself and used it to pull her hair back. She gave me a weird look when I finished her hair and began running the comb through my own. I smiled, "Sometimes it's fun to remind the boys of the fact that there are girls among them." I put the comb back in my pack, "Come, let's go see when work there is for us to do." I said as I wandered out into the camp that was slowing being put together.

**A/N- Another chapter done YAY! I don't know if I want to write another Camp Night chapter or just go into the next day. If I do write another night chapter I know it will mainly be Joren and Kel. But I'm not sure yet. Although I know how I'm going to be using Joren for sure now :) Reviews are always loved even if it is just yelling at me for slow updates. And reviews always make me smile and want to write more :) I will try try try try try to update more often and hope school will leave me sometime to do so (third year university, please don't stomp out all my free time ) until the next chapter then :) **


	11. Camp Night 3

**A/N- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Third year came with 20page essays, finally got a short break between now and exams. Can't figure out why a more math program would find a way to make us write essays *cries* I don't like essays, stories I can write essays I can't. Anyways here's the next chapter for all my patient readers who have realized I've become soooooooo slow at updating sadly, but I don't plan on stopping until this is done!**

**Disclaimer: I own no characters from the book. **

**Chapter Eleven **

I wandered with Alyxina towards Wyldon's tent to find out whether there would be work for us to do. I was almost there when I heard shouting from a little ways away. I grabbed a hold of Alyxina and turned to see what it was about. I realized a moment later there was also laughter from the direction. I decided the two of us could go see what it was. As I got closer I realized that the shouting had been Raoul. "So you let your tongue loosen a little. Forgot about your warning, well luck is not on your side today because you shall be washing dishes tonight and tomorrow. You should be happy that is all you are getting."

I laughed slightly along with the rest of the crowd stopping to watch the scene. Dom's eyes caught mine for a moment, long enough for me to see the mischievous glint. "Kel was part of it too. She said she would distract you long enough so that you would never find out."

Raoul turned and looked at me with his eyebrows raised. I stopped laughing immediately so I could defend myself. "I did no such thing sir. Alyxina and I were merely searching for Wyldon to find out what our chores are."

Raoul looked back at Dom before facing me again. "Well I'm not sure which I believe. I know which I should, but Kel you're on kitchen duty with Dom. Better that way anyways; it keeps you and Alyxina in the center of the camp. You won't have to worry about lugging water up to wash them though, Dom shall do that alone. I expect to see both of you there in time for supper, with the water ready Dom."

I gave a slight bow and accepted the chore without another word. Being on kitchen duty wasn't all that bad, plus the worst part always was lugging the water up to make sure there is enough to wash with. I turned to go back to my tent with Alyxina since there was nothing else to do until supper which was still a little time away. Merric caught up with us part way back, "So Dom got you in trouble did he?"

I rolled my eyes slightly as I turned my head towards him, "Yes, although I will get revenge for myself some day, although it won't be as easy as falling."

Alyxina stopped short for a moment. "Do you fall down a lot Kel? That must be painful to do."

I chuckled a little at her not knowing the fact that falling was the page cover for a fight. "I used to quite often when I was a page. There were a few others who seem to fall with me quite often. Most of us got past it by the time we're squires."

"Oh, so it's a common page thing to fall. What makes pages fall a lot Kel?"

I wasn't sure how to answer this without telling her that it was the cover story for any fight that happened outside of classes. Joren happened to step in though smoothing things over with his words. "Well, pages go through a lot and sometimes we all just ended up wanting to fall down. Sort of like the same way you might after having to do a hard day's work. You like to ask questions don't you?"

"That makes sense, and I do my mother always said I was inquisitive whenever I started asking a lot, but I never really knew what it meant, does it have something to do with asking lots of questions?"

"You're a smart girl," Joren said pinching her nose slightly, "to be inquisitive is to be curious. You like to find out lots about something."

She smiled up at him, "That does sound like me. I don't like not knowing. Maybe if I had questioned my brother more I would be able to find him faster."

I picked her up; even though she wasn't young she was still very small. "I don't think you could have asked enough questions. That's what we will do though when we get back to the palace. We will ask lots of questions and try to make sure we ask the right ones."

She smiled at me, and then giggled as Joren reached over to tickle her. I found it weird; the same Joren who had once fought me because I was a girl was treating Alyxina so nicely. I put her back down as we reached the tent. Joren motioned me to come to the edge of the tent with him. I let Merric take Alyxina over to the bags. He reached into one, pulling out a piece of string. He tied it into a loop and began showing her how to play cat's cradle.

"She seems like a very smart girl. Very few commoners are that smart no matter what sort of background their family have kids always lose anything their parents teach them once they start talking to others on the street."

"Well, we can't just ignore her for now. Who knows maybe she is just very smart, you don't have to be from a rich family to be smart, they are just the only ones who can afford to help develop their children's minds. I think we may need to talk to Wyldon about classes for her while she stays at the castle. I do not doubt her or her story as long as there is no proof against her. If her story is true, her brother could be the next greatest link I need for the case. I will tell you, it might not be hard to get by in the other world, but it is horrible to be taken out of your own and put in a place so different. And I bet it's worse if you know you've left a younger sister behind defenceless. I will protect her with whatever power I have."

I could tell from Joren's reaction to what I said that my face had grown fierce. I took a deep calming breath and turned to go watch Merric and Alyxina play their game.

We took turns playing cat's cradle until final it was time for dinner. I ate my supper quickly, leaving Alyxina with Joren and Merric who had been part of the firewood collection group; I made my way over to where Dom had lugged the water. "I almost wish it was worth it, but I don't think I got enough of the story told. I guess it will have to wait until next time."

Dom sighed and started filling the bins with water for us to wash in. I started taking plates from everyone as people slowly finished their meals. "Well, whatever you said was enough to make me happy. I get to do the simple half of the chore since all the water lugging was left to you."

"You still have to help dump the water out when we are finished." Dom said as a failed attempt at winning the argument.

"Camp's edge is closer than the river and there is less worries about accidental spills."

Dom looked at me, the look on his face told me he was thinking of something I should not agree to. "Accidental spills sound good. It may just happen, but I don't think you need to know the whole plan now. I just know that it is going to result in some mother-y response that Neal is always telling me about."

I sighed, nice to know that my friend has spread the fact that I'm a mothering type around. Even if it was only to his cousin. I started washing the dishes handing them over to Dom once they were clean to be dried and repacked. We worked steadily, not speaking. Alyxina came over to sit by me once she had finished her meal. She didn't say anything but watched the camp. I looked up from the dishwater every now and then. The camp was full of people, and there is always something fun about a group of people who gather together whether in a city or something small like the camp we had created.

Once I finished washing the dishes I help Dom finish up packing the dry dishes and rinsed the cloth I had used in some clean water. I laid the cloth over an empty container so that it could dry a bit before being packed up later. I took one bin of water and Dom grabbed the other. I was about to walk towards the other side of the fire to dump the water when Dom stopped me. "We are going this way."

I trusted Dom to know where we should dump the water so I started following him. We had barely passed the tents when he dropped his bin kicking it so that the water flowed away from the tents. We may have been pasted the tents but not far enough away that we should be dumping the water. "Oh no," I heard him say as he started knocking my bin over too, "I accidently dropped the water, and looked I cause you to spill all of yours too."

I looked at him, avoiding the water as it splashed, "What are you doing, we should have gone at least to the trees before pouring that out."

"Like I said it was an 'accident', plus Lord Wyldon and Raoul's tents aren't by here. They will never find out."

I shook my head and grabbed my bin from the ground. I started back towards the middle of the camp followed by Dom with a grin on his face. "Don't worry Kel, no one saw that and we won't get in trouble for it. We are back in the city tomorrow anyways."

I dropped my bin on the ground where we had washed the dishes, shaking my head at Dom's words. I motioned for Alyxina to follow me to the camp fire to listen to the stories being told by Wyldon and Raoul of their adventures as knights. Only the appropriate ones chosen by them would be told.

After a couple stories I led Alyxina back to our tent so that we could get some sleep. I put Alyxina between me and the bags. I trusted her there more than being on the edge of the tent. There wasn't much space for us anyways as we only had my blanket for warmth. Although it was not cold out, at night there is no greater protection for most than the blanket. I made sure she was covered before taking my own portion of the blanket. I feel asleep quickly knowing that tomorrow we would be returning to the castle and speaking with King Jon.

**A/N~ I am a big idiot. I had written most this chapter a while ago. Then I stopped. When I went to return to writing this story I hadn't realized that this chapter was not complete and therefore not uploaded. So I actually finished that one, then when looking through my files noticed that this one needed to be uploaded. So here it is, nice and complete. Lucky for all of you though, this means to chapters uploaded at once. Always love reading any reviews, so please leave one :)**


	12. Back to the Castle

**Disclaimer: These character do not belong to me, they belong to Tamora Pierce.**

**A/N~ I know I'm a slow updater, but I shall keep working on this story. Writing without a proper i key on my keyboard is quite interesting. At least it still works. I uploaded two chapters this time, since I found the last one saved on my computer but not uploaded. Luckily I found it before I uploaded this one, so it was finished and uploaded as well.**

**Chapter Twelve**

Kel's POV

Our night passed uneventfully and morning arrived early as we started packing up the camp, being handed a cold breakfast to be eaten as we walked through the forest. Wyldon didn't appear to be wasting anytime in getting back to the castle. I wasn't sure what he was worried about. It could be the fact that her brother disappeared, that the men had shown up to seemingly remove her without anyone knowing. It could be that he just didn't like the idea of being caught by the men in the woods. In the end the reason didn't truly matter to me. I wanted to see her return to safety. Her brother's story was bugging me. I felt a need to investigate it. There was a chance that it was connected to all the disappearances I was investigating. This could be a chance to follow it from beginning to end. I felt bad thinking like this, but if it gave us the key to spot it all and catch the person behind it I want that chance.

Alyxina moved closer to me as we walked further on. Looking down at her I could tell that she was worried. I took Alyxina's hand in my own, "Do not worry we shall be back to the castle soon and then we can begin to look for your brother."

She nodded and continued to look at the forest floor. I walked with her in silence, keeping an eye on the two groups of boys. The three pages were walking ahead of us as per their usual place during this outing. The other three were behind us. We only had a little further to walk at this point before we would reach the area just outside of the city. This is where we were to all meet before heading back up to the castle. I felt a small tug on my hand causing me to look down. Alyxina had started to trip over a root but had managed to catch herself. "I'm alright, just missed my step."

"You're worrying about something, I can tell. It should help if you tell me what it is that you are worried about, maybe I could help."

"It's just the whole thing, going into Corus and the castle, traveling with this group, the people who are willing to help me find my missing brother for no reason, it's is a lot to take in."

"You will get used to the castle and Corus quickly and you are traveling with a group of great men. We wish to help you as there may be something off about the situation. You can also still talk to me whenever you need to as I told you before."

"Thank you Kel."

"Now get yourself ready you are about to walk into the clearing, from here we will be able to see Corus. We will first travel through the city to the palace and then from there we shall have to follow Raoul's and Wyldon's orders. Although I think we should be able to take you to get cleaned up a bit first."

Alyxina nodded again, concentrating on the ground in front of her.

It was shortly after that when we walked into the clearing outside of Corus, I felt better knowing that soon I would be able to read the letter and if I was lucky talk to the King. I finished going over the lists of names and comparing the two, giving me a full list of people whose families I should talk to. Hopefully some of them would have similar stories to tell that would help me find clues.

Raoul waved me to come over to him. I tilted my head slightly at Alyxina to see if she should come too. He nodded in reply so I walked over to him with her and sat on the ground next to him. "We aren't spread far apart so it shouldn't be too long before the next couple groups come out. Once there are a few members of the Own here I'm going with the two of you back up to the castle so that we can go over the letter and see about talking to Jon."

I nodded, and then looked at Alyxina to see if she realized he was talking about the king. She did not seem to make any connection between the name and our king. I fear slightly she will frighten when she learns just how important we are making her brother's case. Yet, if his case aligns with the others it also gives a greater chance of finding him, maybe even finding out something about the case.

A third group after us had come into the clearing making Raoul stand and look around. He walked called Dom over as Alyxina and I stood. "I want you to take charge until Wyldon comes out. I want to take the girls back to the castle now."

Dom nodded, and after Raoul turned back to face us, he wiggled his eyebrows. If anything, being the Lump was good for keeping control of my emotions and reactions when in front of my knight master.

We left the rest behind as we started to Corus. We still had a bit to walk but the closer we got to the city, the more Alyxina tried to hide herself behind me. I pulled her back to my side, so that she would be between Raoul and me, and put an arm around her shoulders. "Just stay calm and walk through. No one is going to do anything. Don't forget you are walking with a knight and his squire."

"I know, it's just so big, and it's the castle we are heading to. Not something normal like someone's house or an inn."

"Really the castle is kind of like a giant house and inn. People live there all the time and guests are always coming and going. Today you just happen to be joining that guest list."

She nodded as we continued making our way to the castle. She remained silent as we made our way through the city. She kept looking around, I don't know if it's because she isn't used to such large crowds or just the people here are different from what she is used to. Depending on where in Tortall you come from you might not be used to seeing foreigners. I'm going to have to find out where she comes from eventually, although I don't know how long that will take.

As we started up the hill to the castle I could hear a sharp intake of breath come from her. I'd forgotten how seeing the castle for the first time can be quite a surprise. It has been a home for me for a few years now so to me this was more like a homecoming after a short trip. We made our way up the hill and through to the castle. Walking inside she started looking around, mouth all but agape. Raoul looked at the two of us. "I want to go talk to Jon first by myself. You two go get cleaned up and try to get something cleaner for her. Even if it is just some of your older clothes, they might not fit but it will be cleaner."

I nodded and led Alyxina through the halls to my room. I wasn't sure if we would have time for a full bath so I had us use the pitcher and some cloths to clean off the majority of the dirt from our arms and legs. Once we were finished I went through to find my smallest dress to see if it would fit her. She tried it on and although it was a little loose around her stomach it fit her fine up top so even though it was long on her it would work for today. I gave her my comb so that she could fix her own hair while I changed into a more formal set of clothes for seeing the king. After she finished her hair I ran the comb through my own.

Ready for when we were called down, or Raoul returned I sat on my bed and started going through my pack. I was surprised none of the animals were in my room with my return but that might have something to do with Alyxina being here. I put that thought out of my mind as I started searching through my bag for the book.

I looked up when I heard a knock at the door. Alyxina looked surprised and it was only then that I noticed that she had not moved from where she stood in the centre to do her hair. I moved her away from the door, making her sit in a chair. I opened the door slightly to reveal Joren. He smiled at me and laughed a little as I let a confused look cross my face. "We just returned ourselves and I picked up a little something while we walked through the city." He said holding up a few ribbons for me to see, "I thought a new one would be nice for Alyxina but didn't know which colour to choose."

I moved away from the door to let him into my room. Alyxina looked at me as he walked in. "Joren has brought a little something for you."

Joren walked over to Alyxina and held out his hand. Picking up a blue ribbon he held it out to her. "This seems to be the best match for what you are wearing right now. The rest you can put away until you have better matching clothes for them."

She smiled as she took the ribbons from Joren. She placed all but the blue one in her lap, tying it in her hair. She looked down a little shy and gave her thanks for the ribbons. There was another knock at the door. This time when I opened it there was someone in castle livery, "The King and Sir Raoul are awaiting the presence of you and the girl. I am to lead you to them."

I waved Alyxina over from the chair; she stood up and looked at the ribbons for a second. "Just put them on the chair, you can come back with me and get them later."

She nodded putting the ribbons on the chair and shuffling quickly to where I was. Joren walked over too, "I'm going to head to my rooms to clean up and unpack. I will see the two of you later."

He walked out the door and down the hallway. He was out of sight by the time we were leaving my room, after I grabbed my book and notes from my bed. Alyxina started fidgeting nervously with her hands. I smiled at her and took one of her hands in my own. "Be calm, King Jon is very kind and only wants to hear your story most likely. You can hold my hand as long as you need to."

We were led to a set of large doors where we were left to walk in on our own. I looked at Alyxina; she took a deep breath and nodded. I opened the door and led her into the room where the King and Raoul were waiting.

**A/N~ So happy to be writing this again. I have some thoughts for next chapter already. Please leave a review. I love reading them even when it is only to say something about how I can improve my writing. Believe me when I say I get happy at every review regardless of its content. **


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